i 




Class 

Book._ 

CQEXKIGHT DEBQSSfc 



Expository Sermons 
on the Heidelberg Catechism 



CATECHISM SERMONS 

By DR. SCHENCK 



EXPOSITORY SERMONS ON THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 

213 Pages. 



Previously issued 

THE APOSTLES CREED IN THE 
TWENTIETH CENTURY 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 
AND THE LORD'S PRAYER 

245 Pages 



Expository Sermons 

on the 

Heidelberg Catechism 



By 

Rev, Ferdinand S. Schenck, D.D., LL.D. 

Professor of Preaching and Sociology in 
The Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church in America 
at New Brunswick, N. J. 




New York 

Board of Publication and Bible School Work 
of the Reformed Church in America 
25 East Twenty-second Street 
1920 




Copyright, 1920 
Board of Publication and Bible School Work 



©CU604338 
NOV 27 1920 



THE ABBOTT PRESS, NEW YORK 



EXPLANATIONS 



My Expository Sermons on the 34th to the 
52nd Lord's Day of the Catechism were pub- 
lished in 1902 in a volume entitled "The Ten 
Commandments and the Lord's Prayer." 

My sermons in Exposition of the 7th to the 
22nd Lord's Day of the Catechism were pub- 
lished in 1918 in a volume entitled "The Apostle's 
Creed in the Twentieth Century." 

To reprint these two volumes with this book 
would be too expensive and would make a volume 
too bulky to handle easily. 

This volume contains my expository sermons 
on the first six Lord's Days of the Catechism and 
on the 23rd to the 34th Lord's Days. These 
Lord's Days cover what may be described as the 
distinctive truths of the Catechism. 

The former volumes may be obtained separately. 



July 15, 1920. 



F. S. SCHENCK. 



PREFACE 



IN 1563 A. D., the Heidelberg Catechism was 
published. In 1576 the first Synod of Dort 
declared it the Symbol of Doctrine for the 
Reformed Church of Holland and required its 
ministers to preach upon it at one service of 
every Lord's Day. 

With certain changes of form, that require- 
ment has had a continuous existence until this 
day, and to facilitate it the Catechism has been 
divided into 52 Lord's Days. 

The present constitution of our Reformed 
Church in America requires "every minister to 
explain to his congregation at an ordinary serv- 
ice on the Lord's Day the points of doctrine 
contained in the Heidelberg Catechism, so that 
the exposition may be completed within the term 
of four years." 

It also requires the minister to secure the 
catechetical instructions of the youth. It also 
directs these requirements to be made in every 
call made by a church to a minister to become 
its pastor. When accepted, it then becomes an 
essential part of the contract entered into by 
both church and pastor, which neither party 
has any right to change or ignore. 



8 



PREFACE 



The constitution also provides that each Classis 
once each year shall make an inquiry of each 
church whether these requirements have been 
fully complied with, and shall report the results 
to the Synod. 

We discern in these constitutional require- 
ments two strong and distinguishing character- 
istics of our Reformed Church in America. The 
one is the spiritual oversight of the individual 
churches by the Classes and Synod. 

We have no Bishops, as do our sister churches, 
the Episcopal and the Methodist. Our individual 
churches are not independent of each other, as 
are the Congregational and Baptist Churches. 
We are Presbyterian, but each Classis excels each 
Presbytery in our constitution describing the 
special subjects and the particular manner of 
its spiritual oversight of its churches. 

We regard this well defined oversight as far 
better than that of a Bishop, far better than no 
oversight at all — and far better than only an 
undefined oversight. 

The second distinguished characteristic of our 
Church is the required expository preaching upon 
the Heidelberg Catechism. This usage of our 
Church has been in existence now for nearly 
three hundred and fifty years. These two 
features distinguish our Church from all other 
denominations. They depend for pulpit preach- 
ing entirely upon the peculiarity of the preacher's 
mind. Some truths may be unduly magnified by 



PREFACE 



9 



him, some may be slighted and some may be 
virtually ignored. Our Church gives free scope 
to the individuality of the preacher in the choice 
of his subjects, and in addition, requires him to 
give regular instruction on the great articles of 
the Christian faith in order to preserve the truth 
and to promote the prosperity of the Church. 

When our Church became independent of the 
Mother Church in Holland, and formed its own 
constitution in 1792, this requirement of usage 
was adopted without change. There have been 
several revisions of the constitution since, in 
1833, in 1874 and the last, after long considera- 
tion by the whole Church, in 1916. In all these 
the required expository preaching upon the 
Heidelberg Catechism has been retained. Quite 
a large number of our churches and pastors in 
the course of the years have become slack in 
allegiance to this special requirement, and some 
even opposed to it. In 1910 a committee was 
appointed by the General Synod to ascertain the 
general usage in the whole Church, and so the 
mind of the Church in this important matter. 
We examined the records of every Classis but 
one, a small Classis in the Far West — -and found 
that at least two-thirds of the churches faith- 
fully observed the constitutional required to the 
letter, and that all ministers and churches claimed 
to observe it in spirit. In comparing the record 
with that of five years before, we found that 
the number of churches observing the letter of 



10 



PREFACE 



the requirement was increasing, particularly in 
the Eastern part of the Church. The Heidelberg 
Catechism is finely adapted for preaching, as it 
is not a mere intellectual statement of the truths 
of our religion, but it describes the experience of 
these truths in the hearts and lives of the 
believers. To expound it in the successive Lord's 
Days gives to both preacher and people the highest 
ideal of Christian preaching and Christian liv- 
ing. The Catechism not merely describes the 
Christian life as one might do who observes it 
from the outside, it gives the inward principles, 
feelings and spirit of that life by one who 
lives it. It tells not merely about the Christ one 
has heard of, but it describes the Christ one 
trusts — loves and serves. To promote such 
preaching of Christ and such living of Christ is 
the highest ideal of both pulpit and pew. 

A course of progressive preaching on the great 
truths of our religion will be attractive and 
profitable to the people. I once became pastor 
of a church where the Heidelberg Catechism had 
not been preached in twenty years, and where 
the evening services were very much run down. 
I built up the evening service by preaching upon 
the successive Lord's Days of the Catechism. 
Many of our pastors have catechetical classes, 
many encourage the teaching of the catechism 
in the Sunday Schools. This preaching in exposi- 
tion of the catechism commends it in the instruc- 
tions of the youth, and this is a fine way of 



PREFACE 



11 



"teaching teachers to teach" the essential truths 
of the Holy Scriptures, as experimentally re- 
ceived. This progressive and proportioned preach- 
ing and teaching of the truths of the Christian 
religion from the experience of the soul, must 
lead souls to feel the need of a Savior, to trust 
Him as their personal Savior, and to become 
devoted followers of Christ in the various activi- 
ties of His Church. 

I am sending forth this book of sermons with 
the aim of stimulating this kind of preaching 
and teaching, and to quicken and increase a 
craving of the people for a full experience of 
Christian truth as set forth in our excellent 
catechism. 

It may be proper for me, in doing so, to speak 
of my own experience in such preaching and of 
the aid I have recently received. 

In my four pastorates, two in the country and 
two in the city, I have preached five entire 
courses of sermons on the Catechism, making 
such improvements in each course, as circum- 
stances permitted. I may say they were received 
by all my congregations with as much fervor 
as my other sermons. For the past twenty 
years, I have as part of the course on preaching 
in this Seminary, directed and heard the students 
preach upon the Catechism. Many of these 
sermons have been very fine, and much of the 
criticism of the students of each other has been 
very suggestive and helpful. I have been an 



12 PREFACE 



enthusiastic teacher and many students have been 
enthusiastic scholars of this kind of preaching. 
These sermons are the outcome of my preaching 
improved by the criticisms and suggestions of 
the student's preaching. 

F. S. S. 

New Brunswick, N. J. 
1920. 



CONTENTS 



1st Lord's Day 

"Christian Experience" 15 

2nd Lord's Day 

"Nature Of Sin" 28 

3rd Lord's Day 

"Origin And Extent Of Sin" 39 

4th Lord's Day 

"Desert Of Sin" 51 

5th Lord's Day 

"Helplessness Of The Sinner" 62 

6th Lord's Day 

"The Divine Saviour" ........ 75 

23rd Lord's Day 

"Righteousness By Faith" 88 

24th Lord's Day 

"Justification By And Of Faith" 103 

25th Lord's Day 

"Source Of Faith" . . 117 

25th, 26th, 27th Lord's Days 

"Sacrament Of Baptism" 130 

28th, 29th, 30th Lord's Days 



"Sacrament Of The Lord's Supper" .... 140 
31st Lord's Day 

"Organization Of The Church" 151 



25th to 31st Lord's Days 

"The Ideal Life Of The Church" 164 

32nd Lord's Day 

"Good Works" 177 

33rd Lord's Day 

"Conversion" 189 

34th Lord's Day 

"The End Designed By God" 200 



I. 

FIRST LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE 5 
Ye are Christ's.— I Cor. 3 :23. 



NE of the finest descriptions of life is 



that it is the adjustment of forces within 



to forces without; this is not a definition 
of life, — no one can give that, — it only says what 
it does. The living being is dependent upon its 
environment — it has the power of adapting itself 
to its surroundings. One of the finest descrip- 
tions of the use of the mind gives the same 
thought. Its use is to enable the man to come 
into harmony with his environment. This may 
be physical — the earth where he dwells— or social 
— the relations with his fellows — or spiritual — 
the God, "in Whom he lives, and moves and has 
his being." Now it is quite evident that knowl- 
edge of the surroundings is the condition of 
coming into harmony with them: the bird must 
know where to find water, and food and the 
place for its nest; the man must know where to 
find God and how to come into harmony with 
Him. Still it is just as evident that knowledge 
alone is not enough: the bird may be caught in 
a snare and so be utterly unable to find water 
or food or nest; the man may know where and 




15 



16 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



how to come into harmony with God, and yet 
he may utterly refuse to act upon his knowledge ; 
he, to, may be caught in the snare of worldliness 
and so fail to attain the noblest life — harmony 
with his God. 

A catechism is a clear, concise and full state- 
ment of the truths of religion ; it gives us knowl- 
edge of utmost importance to our well being ; but 
knowledge is not enough. If the catechism can 
give us this knowledge with the experience of 
one who has acted upon these truths, then it 
guides the example and the incentive to like 
action on our part, then it commends the truths 
it teaches to the acceptance of the mind, to the 
approval of conscience and to the action of the 
will, by the experience of one who has fully tested 
them and who tells us the blessedness of coming 
into harmony with God. 

This feature of experience is the striking 
characteristic of our Heidelberg Catechism. The 
first question: 

"What is the only comfort in life and death?" 
gives the keynote of the whole catechism. It 
requires in its answer more than an intellectual 
statement of truth, however correct and full that 
may be, it must be experimental, it must give 
the personal experience of one coming into har- 
mony with the person, God, by accepting and 
obeying the truth. This is clearly seen if we 
contrast it with the first question of another 
great catechism: 

"What is the chief end of man?" 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 17 



The answer is : 

"To glorify God and enjoy Him forever." 

The maker of anything, a watch for example, 
is glorified when the thing made fulfills the ideal 
of the maker, and the watch is only a good one 
as it keeps time. So the question with its answer 
of that catechism is only a matter of pure 
intellect. An irreligious man may give it — a 
desperately wicked man of great mental power 
may see and state this truth — even Satan himself 
may give the answer full and clear. But Satan 
is dumb before our question: 

"What is your only comfort in life and death ?" 

He may know all the truths of religion but 
he has no comfort from them. 

Comfort is relief from past pain or distress 
and from all fear of its return, or it is opposing 
to a still existent evil a present good the enjoy- 
ment of which lessens the trial or strengthens 
one to bear it. Our whole Catechism then is 
more than an intellectual statement of the truths 
of religion. It states these truths as they result 
in the experience of the one who accepts and 
obeys them, who trusts in God. 

The Catechism is experience throughout. We 
now confine our attention to the first question. 
It clearly can be answered affirmatively only by 
experience. There may of course be many nega- 
tive answers. We may readily think of three 
large classes of people of whom we may ask this 
question and who will give widely different 
answers to it. 



18 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Let me ask this question first of that large class 
who are careless about religion. There are many 
grades in the class — a wide diversity both of 
character and condition. This is a Church Audi- 
ence, but there are doubtless many of this class 
present now. They are here from various 
motives but in their hearts they are conscious 
they are careless of religion. Take the very 
best of this class of people, morally upright, suc- 
cessful in life, having good social standing, living 
in happy homes, but conscious that they are care- 
less about God, that they are worldly minded. Let 
me ask the best representative of this class our 
question : 

"What is your only comfort in life?" 

"Comfort," he answers, "I have no need of 
comfort. I have the good things of life, its 
worthy employments, pleasures and friends. Do 
not disturb me; take comfort to someone who 
needs it, I do not." 

I ask still further: 

"What is your only comfort in death?" 

"Death," he answers, "I do not allow myself 
to think about death. When it comes I suppose 
I will die as others do. I do not think of what 
may be beyond. I only hope that as I have 
lived a fairly good life here, and had a fairly 
good time I may have the same experience after 
death." 

Poor voyager on life's mysterious sea — your 
ship is strong, the sea is smooth, the wind is 
fair, the sky is clear. But you are simply 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 19 



drifting, you know not how near a rocky coast, 
how near a roaring storm — you have no knowl- 
edge of the stars — no chart on board — no com- 
pass — no pilot — no captain, — you are bound for 
no harbor, — you are simply drifting on life's 
wide ocean. 

This is a very earnest question I am asking 
you— it arises from a consideration of many im- 
portant truths you ignore. Are you living with- 
out a thought of responsibility to God for the 
use of the powers He gives you, of the time He 
grants you, without any gratitude to Him, — with- 
out even consulting Him? You say you have no 
need of comfort; but rather is it not possible 
that you are in great need, but that your con- 
science is asleep, that you are drugged with 
worldliness, that you simply do not recognize your 
need? 

The second large class of people of whom this 
question may be asked is also of many grades 
and conditions ; some may be living wicked lives ; 
some may be living upright lives as their neigh- 
bors recognize; but as a class they have an 
aroused and condemning conscience — they may 
be said to be convicted of sin. There are also 
grades of this conviction; in some it is very 
deep and harassing; they sometimes plunge into 
sin to drown it, or they harden themselves to 
bear it; in others it is more shallow and less 
disturbing, but still a disagreeable companion 
whenever it demands a hearing. 

Let me ask our question of all the grades of 



20 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



this large class. There may be many here in 
this Church Audience. 

"What is your only comfort in life and death?" 

The answer is prompt and clear: 

"We have no comfort at all, either in life or 
in view of death. Our religion has thus far 
brought us only unrest and distress. Tell us 
where we may secure comfort and you will con- 
fer the greatest favor upon us." 

And now I will ask our question of the third 
class of people — those who are really Christians, 
those who believe in Christ as their Saviour. 

"What is your only comfort in life and death?" 

The answer comes clear and strong from 
each one: 

"That I belong to my faithful Saviour, Jesus 
Christ." 

Doubtless there are many grades of character 
and conditions also in this class. Doubtless also 
the large proportion of this Church Audience is 
made up of the many grades of this large class. 

The answer given to this question in our 
Catechism may be of great service to us all: 
to the careless to arouse a sense of need and its 
supply; to the convicted of sin in their trouble, 
to give them full relief ; and to believers to make 
more clear and full their trust in Christ, as they 
define and describe it, and to show them a way 
in which they may serve Christ by telling others 
of Him. 

The answer covers the past, the present, and 
the future. In the past the believer came to 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 21 



recognize his need of the forgiveness of his sins 
and of strength to resist sinfulness. He had 
tried to live as his own governor, as belonging 
to himself, as his own, but he had learned to 
recognize that his own will had gone far astray 
from God's law of his life, — that he was under 
the condemnation of that law and under the 
power of his own deceived, ignorant and stubborn 
will. Then he learned of Jesus Christ as the 
lover of mankind, as the lover of his guilty and 
sinful soul, and he began to trust Him as his 
Saviour. Now he belongs to Christ for he says : 

"Christ with His precious blood hath fully 
satisfied for all my sins." 

We know something in our business life of 
ransom, — one's home has been sold for unpaid 
taxes, — he may ransom it under certain condi- 
tions; also in history of man, a prisoner is 
ransomed by an exchange. So Christ says He 
gave His life a "ransom for many"; so Paul 
says: 

"While we were yet sinners Christ died for us." 

We can never fully realize the price He paid, 
— He gave His life to redeem us from our sins. 
He has ransomed us. 

More than this the answer says : 

"Christ has delivered me from all the power 
of the devil." 

The believer had thought he was his own, was 
guiding his own life, but in reality he was de- 
ceived by Satan; he was yielding him service, 
following his devices, yielding to his temptations. 



22 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



But at length he recognized there was a sinful 
nature within him which held him a willing 
prisoner; call it by whatever name you will, rec- 
ognizing its source and its power, it is the enemy 
of God in the world and in our souls. Christ 
called it the "Prince of this world," and said He 
would by His death strip him of all his disguises, 
judge him, and cast him out. John, the beloved 
disciple of Christ said : 

"For this purpose the Son of God was mani- 
fested that He might destroy the works of the 
devil." 

So the believer trusting Christ says: 
"He hath delivered me from all the power of 
the devil." 

We may not fully recognize the power of evil 
over us or the dreadful battle Christ fought with 
the Prince of this world, even unto death, but 
He has stripped him of his disguises, broken his 
power, and aroused our manhood to fight against 
him as our enemy. We belong to Christ, — He 
hath redeemed us from the penalty and the 
power of our sins. We are His by ransom, by 
deliverance. 

The comfort of the believer is that he has been 
delivered from a dreadful condition, that he 
belongs now (in his gratitude and devotion), to 
the one who had delivered him and that he has 
a growing appreciation of his deliverer's power, 
love and faithfulness as he contemplates his 
acts of deliverance. Christ has ransomed us, 
has satisfied fully for all our sins. The business 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 23 



man has become involved in debt, slowly, stead- 
ily, for years. At the close of a period of anxiety 
his creditors are about to sell him out, and so 
notify him. He goes home at the close of that 
day, and all the world is dark to him, — he has 
failed — he must tell his wife and children, their 
home must be given up, — his friends will soon 
know it, — -the whole community will know it, — 
his helpless failure shrouds his whole world in 
gloom. Now his greatest creditor comes to him, 
— he has not seen him in years, — he proves to 
be the friend of his youth. He says: 

"I cannot see you fail. I will satisfy your 
other lesser creditors. I, your chief creditor, will 
sacrifice myself for you. I will even go in busi- 
ness with you as your partner. We will renew 
companionship, the friendship of our boyhood 
days." Who can tell how the gloom of failure 
passes away before such sacrifice, before such 
ransom, and how the renewed friendship will 
incite to effort and success. But any business 
affair of modern life can throw but little light 
upon the great mystery of Christ's sacrifice for 
us in His infinite love, of His paying our debts 
even to Himself, to divine justice, of His satis- 
fying for all our sins. Before God we are hope- 
lessly in debt, complete and absolute failures, our 
future filled with gloom, and Christ, the Son of 
God, takes our place, pays our debts, satisfies 
completely for us, — yes, even becomes our surety, 
our partner for all the future. And all out of 
love for us. Surely in gratitude and devotion, 



24 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



we will not try any longer to live for ourselves. 
We belong to Him, we will live with Him and 
for Him. 

So also He has delivered me from all the power 
of the devil. We can easily in these dreadful 
days of warfare imagine the hard lot of one 
taken captive by the enemy and held fast in 
prison. — day and night the hardship, the gloom of 
his captivity oppresses him. Then one dark night 
his old Captain holding him in high esteem risks 
his life, fights his way through the guards, comes 
to the prison door, forces it open, awakens the 
sleeping prisoner, gives him a sword, and now 
together, his Captain and he fight their way 
back through their foes to their own army and 
freedom again. Think you that rescued soldier 
can ever forget the gloom of prison, and that 
he owes his freedom to the love and sacrifice 
of his Captain, surely he will be loyal to the 
Captain his whole life long. But any deliverance 
from a bodily prison can throw little light upon 
Christ's deliverance from our spiritual bondage. 

This seems to be only in the past, but it is 
not altogether so. It is true the saving acts of 
ransom and deliverance were wrought by Christ 
while He lived upon the earth centuries ago. 
He loved us then with the wonderful love which 
led Him to die the shameful death of the Cross 
for us. But He lives, Who once was dead, the 
triumphant and glorious Savior, and He loves us 
now with the same wonderful love, He forgives 
and He renews us in His spirit today. So we 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 25 



think of our past when we first became conscious 
of our sins and sought His forgiveness, when 
we first saw the hideous nature and malignant 
designs of sin, the Prince of the world, and 
sought Christ's deliverance. Christ was our 
Savior when we first trusted Him; just as truly 
He is our Savior today. He is enthroned in 
power and glory, He lives and He loves and He 
saves us today, He ransoms and He delivers. 

The answer of the Catechism describes now 
the comfort of belonging to Christ in all the 
varied experiences of the present life. Christ 
owns me. He will take care of His own. Christ 
says : 

"No one shall pluck them out of My hand." 
Paul says: 

"All things work together for good to them 
that love God." 
Christ says: 

"Abide in Me and I in you." 
Paul says: 

"If when we were enemies we were reconciled 
to God by the death of His Son much more being 
reconciled we shall be saved by His life." 

He Who loved us so He died for us now loves 
us as He lives for us. This does not mean the 
believer will have only an easy time in this life. 
He may have hard battles to fight with the evil 
within him and without him, — battles calling for 
all his courage and strength, but his great Cap- 
tain is leading and watching him. He may have 
great duties to do calling for all his devotion 



26 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



and care, but God's grace is sufficient for him. 
He may have heavy trials to bear heavy and 
long continuing, but Christ assures him, "I am 
with thee, I will not leave thee nor forsake thee." 
The believer too is sailing on the mysterious sea 
of life — it may be very dark and tempestuous, 
the winds and the waves seek his destruction, but 
in the roar of the storm he may shout "All's 
Well," for his Captain is on board and in full 
command. Also if the sea is smooth, the sky 
clear and the wind fair this voyager on life's 
ocean is not drifting, he is sailing to a fair 
harbor. 

The answer of the Catechism now speaks of 
the future. I belong unto Christ and "he assures 
me of eternal life." Christ says to his disciples, 
"Where I am there ye shall be also." Paul says : 
"I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ 
which is far better." 

Eternal life begins now. Christ says: "This 
is life eternal to know God and Jesus Christ 
whom he has sent." To know Christ, to trust 
Him, to adore Him, to love Him is to be led by 
His Holy Spirit and to be sincerely willing to live 
unto Him — an ever growing appreciation, friend- 
ship, and intermingling of life with Christ — a life 
growing in his likeness. Here amid the many 
blessings, the great service of this life, here amid 
the many duties and temptations of this life, 
here amid the growth and discipline of this life. 
What of the life beyond? 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 27 



We know but little of the circumstances, of 
the eternal life beyond earth's varied scenes. It 
is so glorious that it cannot be fully described in 
our language arising only out of an earthly 
experience. Let it suffice, we will be with Christ 
where He is. What is good enough for Him will 
be good enough for us. We belong to Him and 
He loves us so He wills to have us with Him in 
eternity. 

So let the worldling seek something richer far 
than all he now possesses. Let the troubled in 
conscience find relief in trusting Christ. Let 
the believer learn more and more in his deep 
experience of the comfort of belonging to his 
faithful savior Jesus Christ. 

Let us all having spiritual life come into full 
harmony with our highest and all inclusive en- 
vironment, with our God, our Father revealed in 
His Son, by the Holy Spirit! 



II. 

SECOND LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"NATURE OF SIN" 

By the works of the law shall no flesh 
be justified in His sight for by the law is 
the knowledge of sin. — Rom. 3:20. 

HE Epistle to the Romans is divided into 



three parts. The first part shows that all 



men are sinners under the law, Jew and 
Gentile alike and it ends with our text. The 
second part shows there is full and free salva- 
tion for all by faith in Jesus Christ and it 
ends with the 11th Chapter. The remainder of 
the Epistle is an exhortation to believers in 
Christ to lead a holy life. 

Our Catechism is constructed upon the plan of 
the Epistle to the Romans. The second question 
concisely sets forth this plan. Our text says the 
law of God brings us to a knowledge of our sin. 

The Catechism says that our knowledge of our 
misery is a necessary step to securing comfort. 
One may be in danger and not know it — he may 
be sound asleep in a burning house, — he may 
have a deadly disease and not feel it. He is a 
true friend who will wake him up in time to 
escape, who will make him conscious of his 
disease in time to apply sufficient remedy to it. 




28 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 29 



A wise and brave man desires to know his true 
condition with reference to physical dangers that 
he may properly treat them. With regard to 
spiritual diseases and dangers it behooves each 
one of us to face the truth however miserable it 
may make us, for there may be a remedy, there 
may be an escape. In ignorance there is death, 
in knowledge there is life. 

Let us now therefore frankly, fully, and 
courageously compare ourselves with the law of 
God. How do we measure up to the standard of 
the law of our being? Christ teaches us this 
law briefly: 

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind 
and with all thy strength. This is the first and 
great commandment, and the second is like unto 
it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

As soon as the law is declared there is some- 
thing within us that instantly responds "The law 
is right." God has given us all our powers and 
preserves us in their enjoyment, they should 
turn to Him as naturally as flowers turn to the 
sun. Each one is a creature of God, — he should 
love himself as such a creature. Every other 
man is likewise a creature of God. Each one 
should love each other as he loves himself. The 
proper love of one's self is the standard of the 
love for one's neighbor. Each one should love 
one's self to make the most possible out of him- 
self according to the ideal of God. Call this, if 
you please, to make himself the super-man. Then 



30 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



he should love every other man as he loves him- 
self, to make him too a super-man, — far above 
man's present ideals to reach God's ideal. In- 
stead of one's self struggling in seeking from 
another or even oppressing that other, true self 
seeking becomes seeking the best for every other 
man also. 

There are three striking particulars in which 
this law differs from laws made by man. 

First, — It is Universal. The fact that it 
awakens this instant response shows it is already 
written in our nature. It is not for a single 
nation but for the race. True there are some 
portions of the race who know it clearly — the 
Christian portions. There are others who know 
it dimly or not at all, — the heathen portions. 
The law is written upon their nature but it is 
so blurred they do not read it. 

Let us not think about them, — how they will 
be judged. Let us leave that to God, — surely the 
Judge of all the earth will do right. 

Let us look steadily at our own case as we 
face this universal law of our being, for there 
is not a single one of us exempt from it. 

In the second place this law is spiritual. The 
laws made by man command outward obedience. 
Keeping the letter satisfies such laws. But in 
this law there is no letter, it is all spirit. Not 
an outward act is commanded but an inward: 
the mind, the heart, the soul, to love with all 
one's strength; the outward acts follow as pure 
water flows from a pure spring. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 31 



There are several features of love we are very 
familiar with among ourselves. Love delights in 
the one loved, to be in his presence, or to think 
about him gives pleasure. Then also love strives 
to please the one loved, consults him and acts in 
harmony with his tastes and desires. Then also 
love seeks a return love, and strives in constant 
and strong feeling and action to awaken and 
strengthen such return love. When we thus 
analyze love we see the kind of acts that will 
flow from it; they will not be irksome, not from 
fear, but from delight — striving to please God 
and rejoicing in His love for us. 

In the third place this law is distinguished 
from all man made laws in that God made it. 
Man makes laws for his own government as he 
discovers his needs. Man is by nature a social 
being and his relation to his fellows forms the 
basis of many of his laws. He has an ideal of 
God, often very high, as also a social being and 
forms rules of action based on his relation to 
Him. But no enactment of man, however lofty, 
has attained to this perfect law. Besides in the 
supernatural revelation of God culminating in 
Jesus Christ we find this law described as com- 
ing direct from God. He is the great law giver 
of this perfect law. 

Two truths are thus clearly brought to our 
attention, God had a plan in making man, — a 
plan in His eternal, all-wise, and all-powerful 
mind before man was created. This law there- 
fore is the exact description of that plan; it 



32 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



shows the purpose of God in creating man and 
so it defines and describes all man's powers. 
Man is the intelligent maker of many things. 
The plan exists in his mind before the thing is 
made; for example, a clock, — the plan is a law 
for the clock, it is constructed to measure time; 
to set it to do any other kind of work degrades 
it and dishonors its maker. 

Since God is infinitely good and has at infinite 
pains through all ages created man; the highest 
honor and highest good for man is to fulfill 
God's plan in accomplishing the object for which 
he was made. To live any other kind of life 
degrades man and dishonors God. Man's high- 
est happiness can only be found in attaining 
God's plan, in keeping His perfect law of love. 

The other truth clearly seen is that the author- 
ity of the law giver cannot be questioned and so 
the law is the expression of His nature. Some- 
times it may be a question of a man made law 
whether it does not exceed its authority and so 
condemn itself. Here the authority is clear. It 
cannot be exceeded and thus only the character 
of God is seen in it. How much God cares for 
man's obedience may be seen in the value He 
places upon a man as he gives this law describ- 
ing him. God is infinitely good and the law is 
the expression of His goodness. The right of 
the good God to govern His creatures is un- 
questioned. The law therefore flows from the 
goodness of God and so expresses it as truly 
as it describes man's powers. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 33 



We are now ready to consider the next question 
of the Catechism, it is intensely personal and it 
requires our faithful consideration and so enters 
into the deep experience of each one of us. 

Can you keep all these things perfectly? In 
no wise, is the answer given. In no wise for I 
am prone by nature to hate God and my neigh- 
bor. If the question was: Have you kept this 
law perfectly? I suppose each one of us would 
answer, if we thought seriously at all, — No, I 
have not. If the question was : Do you keep this 
law perfectly? I suppose each one of us would 
be compelled to answer, — No, I do not. But the 
question is deeper: Can you keep it perfectly? 
It covers the other two by asking the reason: 
Why have you not kept it? Why do you not keep 
it? It goes still deeper: Why have you come — 
why do you come so far short of it? It goes 
still deeper: Is your disobedience merely a nega- 
tive — a failure to keep it — or is it a positive one 
—a transgression — a doing the reverse, a hat- 
ing? I suppose each one of us would hesitate 
about using that strong word hate still the 
Apostle Paul uses a word like it. He says the 
carnal, that is, "The natural mind, is enmity 
against God, is not subject to the law of God, 
neither indeed can be." The Catechism softens 
the harsh hard word, enmity, a little by saying : 
I am prone to hate — . 

But is even that so? Can I truthfully say it 
describes me? I am indifferent to God. I ignore 
Him and His law. I neglect my fellowman. I 



34 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



do not care for him, but I go no further. I do 
not hate either one. But consider a little. Sup- 
pose you have set your heart upon some object, 
made it the one thing you live for, and God 
forbids it and opposes you, or man sets himself 
across your path and tries to defeat you. You 
are, as you say, careless and indifferent about 
God and man, if all goes well, but if they are 
strongly and persistently against you, if they 
stand across your cherished life effort and you 
still press on, is there not something resembling 
hate awakened in your strong and losing fight? 
A proneness may not be open and extreme at all 
times but it arouses itself against God's holiness 
and justice, it arouses itself against man when 
he becomes disagreeable to us, when he dislikes 
and hates and fights us; it lies in the depths of 
our nature, and as by a flash it sometimes gives 
us a hideous sight of ourselves. Call it what 
you will, there is something in our nature op- 
posed to God and man, that violates the law of 
love, does not keep it, is prone to break it. In 
proportion as this is true of each one of us, or 
rather in proportion as we are conscious of its 
truth, we must recognize it as a condition f rought 
with danger, a miserable condition. We may be 
loath to look at it steadily and in detail, but 
surely it is our interest to know the whole truth, 
and we should bravely and frankly seek this 
knowledge. 

There are clearly three elements of misery in 
disobeying this law of love: 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 35 



The first is the absence of the noble character 
and high happiness of which man is capable in 
this law of his being. It is the law of his being, 
of his whole nature so designed by his creator. 
Man tries to find happiness in power, honor, 
riches, friends, in various ways, by great efforts ; 
he attains some happiness through the fragments 
of love he cherishes, also through the activity 
of his powers, but he misses the full happiness 
that can only come from the full love of God 
and man. He has great powers given him for a 
noble purpose; ignoring the purpose or oppos- 
ing it, the powers however great can never be 
satisfied; they wear themselves out in fruitless 
effort ; their greatness makes their failure pitiful. 
Happiness above us, beyond us, out of our reach, 
and yet we know we were made for it, that we 
could have it if we would try for it in the right 
way, — this surely is an element of misery. 

The second element of misery in disobeying 
the law of our being is in the existence and the 
possible raging of evil passions. To name them 
is to see their hideous nature, Avarice, Lust, 
Pride, Envy, Jealousy, and that thing we are 
prone to, Hatred. Who would welcome such 
powers? But they are within us in the place 
where full love of God and man should be. We 
would not have the angel of light and love dwell- 
ing in us so the serpents of darkness and hate 
are there. And while we try to keep them quiet 
generally, there arise provocations and tempta- 
tions when they rage within us and torment us 



36 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



with their spite. And how they often rage in 
this world that refuses to love God, how they 
rage in the social relations of man, in social life, 
business life, political life, — how they sometimes 
break forth in cruel war among nations. Over 
all the tumult and strife, over all the cruelty 
and conflict, over all the oppression and want, 
there speaks the law of God — Love — Love. If 
men would only listen and obey, the tumult would 
hush, the conflict cease, the oppression and want 
pass away forever. But let us not think of the 
race, of the mass of men except as we are a 
part of it. Let us look steadily at our own 
nature. Each one of us must see the misery of 
having such hideous passions within us. 

The third element of misery in our disobeying 
the law of our being is the awakening of an 
accusing conscience. Here also let us be faithful 
with ourselves. Do not let us say too hard 
things about ourselves, nor too soft things, let 
us clearly look at the truth. Law grows upon 
us as we consider its nature in its source. The 
law of a township may be a small matter. One 
breaks it and pays the fine. The conscience is 
quiet. The law of a nation is a much greater 
matter. The element of this disloyalty, of treason 
may enter it and the whole nation arises to 
punish. Here conscience is disturbed. Go a step 
higher. One breaks a law of humanity. There 
are extradition laws among civilized nations. All 
humanity now arises to punish. The man is the 
outcast, abhorred by all. His conscience now is 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 37 



terrible. One step higher. One breaks a law 
of God. One breaks the law of His own being. 
Where will he fly now, beyond township lines, 
beyond the nation's boundary, beyond the reach 
of humanity to some Island of the Sea? What 
difference does it make? He cannot fly from 
himself, from his aroused conscience. He can- 
not fly from God. 

The law grows upon us as we consider the 
rights invaded. In this case it is not the rights 
of a child, perhaps we could make that right 
again. It includes the rights of many children; 
it is not merely the rights of a man, of a nation, 
or of humanity; it includes all these, but it is 
far greater, — we have invaded the rights of God. 

There are many words in use among ourselves 
and they are hideous enough when so used. They 
become terrible when used in reference to God. 
One steals, takes something from another, usual- 
ly it is small compared to the other's possessions. 
Here one steals from God and he takes all God's 
possessions he can lay his hands on, for all his 
powers belong to God. One commits a breach 
of trust. In this case man is God's steward 
and here he has taken all God has intrusted to his 
care. We abhor injustice, ingratitude, disloyalty 
among men. These are far worse in reference 
to God. 

What shall we do? We are not satisfied, have 
not the happiness God longs to give us. We 
have sinful passions within us, which bring only 
evil in their exercise. We have an accusing 



38 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



conscience. We have broken the law of our 
being. Our conscience cannot say too hard things 
against us. 

Oh my soul! Unsatisfied, sinful, conscience- 
stricken, — where will you go? Will you go to 
sleep ; only to awaken to the same condition. Will 
you plunge into worldly business and pleasure 
when you know they cannot satisfy you? 

Where will you go? Why not go to Jesus 
Christ? Can you live without Him? In His 
life this law shines in perfect obedience. He 
loved God, His Father, supremely. He loved 
Himself, was the perfect Man fulfilling God's 
ideal of manhood. He loved His fellow-men as 
Himself to lift them to the ideal of God. He 
loved each one of us more than Himself, loved us 
so He died for us, to redeem us from our sins. 
He is seeking you and seeking you to save you, 
to bless you with His saving love. He is even 
now using your present thoughtfulness, perhaps 
distress to win you to himself. Commit your 
soul's salvation to Jesus Christ! Trust Him! 



III. 

THIRD LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"ORIGIN AND EXTENT OF SIN" 

For as through the one man's disobedi- 
ence the many were made sinners even so 
through the obedience of the one shall the 
many be made righteous.— -Rom. 5:19. 




HE Second Lord's Day of our Catechism 
held before us the law of God as the 
standard of character. 



When we examined ourselves by this law we 
were compelled to confess that we did not love 
God supremely, that we did not even love our 
neighbor as ourselves — on the contrary that there 
was a nature within us prone to hate both God 
and our neighbor. 

Several questions now arise in the thoughtful 
mind of vast importance to us and this Lord's 
Day of the Catechism gives frank answers to 
them — questions concerning the extent, the de- 
gree and the source of our sinfulness under this 
law of our being. 

Concerning the extent of sinfulness we can 
readily see that it is universal. We may be 
better than some of our fellow-men, or we may 
be worse than some, but none of us will claim 
that we are different from them. We belong to 

39 



40 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



the race of mankind. We are like our fellow- 
men as far as we have observed ourselves and 
them, in our views and feelings, in our appe- 
tites and passions, in our plans and actions — we 
belong to a race that is sinful. 

We look back over history and from the time 
the first ranks of men emerge from the mist of 
the remote past until the present day is reached 
— among savages, among barbarians, among the 
civilized, while there has been great advance — 
many noble lives, many ideals and many great 
attainments, the race as a race has not kept and 
does not keep the law of love. Whatever we 
may think of some of the theories of science, 
there is manifest reason to speak of the "strug- 
gle for existence" and of "the survival of the 
fittest." Whatever attainment there has been 
made by the strong over the weak, whatever of 
advance in great classes of men has been reached, 
still no race of mankind and no individual of 
any race has attained to anything near perfec- 
tion according to this law of our being. What- 
ever sympathy there may have been awakened for 
the fallen, and helpfulness for the weak, there has 
been and there is now a proneness to hate both 
God and Man. Often a peaceful and prosperous 
civilization has been but the surface under which 
jealousies and hatreds of nations were burning, 
and just now in our day these seething passions 
have exploded in Europe in the greatest and 
most cruel war of the history of the race. Then, 
too, when we examine the Scriptures their super- 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 41 



natural revelation of God is evidently made to a 
sinful race, it culminates in Jesus Christ who 
came into the world to save sinners. 

Now, let us look at the degree of our sinful- 
ness. Is it a mere surface matter not controlling 
the depths of our being, is it a kind of disease 
which has fastened itself upon an otherwise 
healthy person and which may be perhaps easily 
cast off? 

It is very important that we should have clear 
views of the true case — that we should be sternly 
faithful to ourselves in this matter. 

It is quite evident it has not been cast off by 
any considerable portion of the race; it has not 
even been cast entirely off by a single individual. 

There have been many deeds of heroism and 
self-sacrifice, our human nature is capable of 
great things, but still it is under sin — it has not 
cast it off — not become free from it. 

Then besides we ourselves whatever great efforts 
we have made have found it impossible to cast 
it off. We may have sudued this or that evil 
propensity, but certainly not all such propensi- 
ties. If anyone should claim "I am free from 
sin," "I am perfect," our neighbors would ridi- 
cule us. But none of us makes such a claim. 
The danger is our being satisfied with a low 
attainment, of being contented to be sinful, of 
satisfying ourselves that we have certain good 
traits, that we are generally pretty good, at any 
rate not as bad as some others. 

This experience personal and of the race is 



42 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



confirmed by the Scriptures. Christ said "Ex- 
cept one be born anew he cannot see the Kingdom 
of God." The Apostle Paul said "Ye were dead 
through your trespasses and sins." 

The Catechism states the degree of our sin- 
fulness in very strong terms — it says, "we are 
so corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing 
any good and are inclined to all wickedness." 

Before we can accept this statement, we must 
try to understand it. 

We judge men by their motives. We look at 
the character back of the action. Is the supreme 
love of God and the proper love of man the 
motive? The character? Yes. Then the action 
is absolutely good. No. Then the action may be 
relatively good by other standards, but it is 
not wholly good by this standard. There is much 
relative good in the world — here is a good fam- 
ily — a good husband and father, a good mother 
and children. Good brothers and sisters. Good 
certainly, and blessed therein. So in our sight. 
So in God's sight as far as it goes; and God 
rejoices therein and approves to that extent, 
But it is quite possible he may see in each 
family an entire absence of any thought of God 
or love for Him, and also a great lack of love 
for their fellow-men. There is relative good in 
such a case — and there may be many such cases 
— but no absolute good. 

So a man may be a good citizen, giving him- 
self to the welfare of his country on the battle- 
field, in legislative hall, in official station, in 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 43 



private life. He is relatively good in our sight, 
and of course in God's sight. Yet God may see 
in him no affection for God, no gratitude to Him, 
no desire even to obey His law, and the man 
sees it himself and acknowledges it. There is no 
absolute good in him. 

We may imagine that this earth sweeps out of 
its orbit at a slight angle, or at a greater one; 
it would carry its hills and mountains, its valleys 
and plains, its rivers and oceans with it and for 
a while they would be lighted in beauty and 
warmed in life by the sun it was leaving. Still 
leaving the Sun it would be slowly perhaps but 
surely going out into the chill and darkness of 
death. Man has noble powers that may result 
in many noble actions; he carries these with 
him; they are a part of himself when he sweeps 
out of his orbit; but his sole, absolute good is 
to revolve about God, to love him supremely; 
and of this he is wholly incapable ; the only hope 
for him is that the Sun— his God will again 
draw him from his wandering out in darkness 
back into the orbit of true life and light. 

This corruption permeates our whole being, 
there is no part of our nature free from it, evil 
clings to our imagination, our memory, our 
reasoning, our will, the whole earth, the whole 
man is out of his orbit, the slightest introspection 
shows the corruption not only of our physical 
nature, appetites and passions, but of our spiri- 
tual as well, as our thoughts, our feelings, our 
desires. 



44 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



The opposite of good now faces us — wicked- 
ness. What one of us but recognizes that we 
need restraint — we need the relative good within 
us and about us. Above all we need the grace 
of our God to keep us from going out into the 
chill and darkness of wickedness and death. 

Some may call this the doctrine of total de- 
pravity. That is an unfortunate combination of 
strong words — and gives us the terrible indict- 
ment that we are as bad as we can be. This is 
not held by anyone; it is far from true — and is 
carefully avoided by our Catechism. But we are 
depraved, corrupt, and this corruption is total 
in the sense that it extends to our whole nature 
and inclines us to all wickedness. We are in- 
clined that way, we are sweeping in that direc- 
tion, but we have not reached that extreme. 

It is very important we should have right 
views of our sinfulness. Wrong conceptions of 
sin lead to wrong conceptions of salvation from 
sin. None can see the glorious light of the cross 
of Christ until he beholds it rising upon and dis- 
pelling the black darkness of sin. 

But here an awful thought assails us. We 
are corrupt. We cannot deny it, but we are not 
to blame for it; it is not our fault. God made 
us so. 

If this is true it shrouds us in absolute despair. 
If our corruption comes from God then He must 
be corrupt since He is the source of it; then He 
neither can nor will lift us out of our corruption 
nor rescue us from black wickedness and despair. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 45 



Sometimes we are repelled by the thought of 
the absolute holiness of God — we think that he 
should be something as we are, but when we 
reflect we recognize that the only hope of us 
sinful men is in an absolutely holy God. 

This brings us to consider the source of our 
sinfulness. The Catechism questions whence pro- 
ceeds the depravity of human nature. 

Here our own experience and the history of 
the race give little answer. 

When each of us became conscious of our own 
existence we became conscious of being sinful, 
of belonging to a sinful race. 

When we go back as far as possible in history 
beyond written history, with traditions and 
legends we see plain evidence that mankind was 
even then a sinful race. As far as we can trace 
the stream back it is a corrupt stream; but we 
cannot reach the source. 

Some learned men have held the theory that 
the race of men came from several heads or 
sources, was evolved in different climes. But the 
difference everywhere found between the lowest 
man and the highest animal, in the sense of right 
and wrong in the aspirations and motives above 
the intellectual seems to confute such theories. 
The theory arising from such origins of the ad- 
vance secured by effort and education is also con- 
futed by the failure to attain in any single 
instance, to this perfection as described by the 
ideal of God's law. 



46 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Here the Bible gives us our only light. In- 
fidelity ridicules the story of Adam, but even 
here it manifests its destructive evidence, for 
it has nothing to take its place, and destroying 
that it destroys the hope for mankind wrapped 
up in it. The seriousness of the subject lifts 
us above the ridicule of infidelity. We simply 
seek the truth; what is the source of man's 
sinfulness — a truth of vast importance to us. 

The Catechism declares that the disobedience 
of Adam is the source of man's sinfulness. 

Let us try to understand the fall of Adam into 
sin, the results in the race; and the hopes of 
mankind involved in it; for we must remember 
that it is not a single incident, isolated by itself 
as told in the Bible, that it runs through the 
whole Scripture, and is linked with the salvation 
wrought by Christ. We find it so in the text of 
this morning, let us recall it. "For as by one 
man's disobedience many were made sinners so 
by the obedience of one shall many be made 
righteous." 

Three things are clearly seen in the Bible 
teaching. The first is that God created Adam 
as the head of the race of mankind. How he 
created him is not stated, but it is stated that 
though made of the earth, he was made in the 
likeness of God and later texts of Scripture show 
this likeness was in knowledge, righteousness and 
true holiness, that he had a spiritual nature capa- 
ble of and prone through likeness of God to 
eternal righteousness. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 47 



Some think God created man by a command 
instantaneously fulfilled; but there is no sign in 
all the universe of like creation; others think it 
was by a long process of evolution. We should 
always remember that evolution does not account 
for origins — only for development of that already 
existing. There is all the place for it in the 
first chapter of Genesis that man by his research 
has found for it in nature ; in both there is need 
of God as the origin. Evolution unfolds in 
multitude forms the material universe, but God 
is its origin. It unfolds in multiple forms vege- 
table life — but God is its origin. It unfolds in 
multiple forms animal life, but God is its origin. 
Man may have come from the highest animal by 
evolution, but there is a life in him and distinct 
from animal life. God is its origin. Evolution 
unfolds in multitude forms and associations this 
man life, but God is its origin. The successive 
generations in mankind are from Adam, the 
head of the race — in all ages, in all climes, in 
vast variety, the one race of mankind. 

The one strong fact stated in the Scripture is 
that God created Adam in his own likeness, a 
spiritual being prone to righteousness. God is 
not the source of man's sinfulness. He made 
man upright. 

But we have already been forced to the con- 
clusion that the race is sinful. Whence then is 
this sinfulness. 

The second thing clearly seen in the Bible is 
that Adam was placed under the law of our 



48 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



being by God, that he was tempted and that he 
broke the law by wilful disobedience and so be- 
came sinful. A moral being is one free to act 
not being in any way coerced by outward force. 
Being so free he may choose either the right or 
the wrong. Adam could have chosen to love 
God supremely, he would have then obeyed the 
command given him and have been confirmed in 
the spirit of obedience, but being a free moral 
being, he could choose what seemed of advantage 
to him, could cease to love God supremely and so 
disobey his command. 

The fruit of the tree of good and evil seems 
a little thing, still it was the symbol of God's 
authority. In our Civil War, General Dix at 
New Orleans said, "If any man hauls down the 
American Flag, shoot him on the spot." It was 
a little thing — a flag — but it was the symbol of 
the nation's authority. 

As far as we know — as far as we are able to 
think, a finite moral being must have this free- 
dom. It may be confirmed in character by re- 
peated acts either of obedience or of disobedience. 
Adam was such a moral being— yielded into 
temptation and fell into sin. 

Our own temptations are pictured to us in 
those of Adam. We fall in the same way. We 
choose what seems for our good and find it 
evil, because we transgress God's good law and 
disobey Him. 

The third thing clearly seen in the Bible is 
that Adam is regarded and treated as the Head. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 49 



the Representative of the race — and as giving 
his character to the race. Both of Representa- 
tion and of Heredity we find a great deal in the 
experience of the race. As representative we 
find those represented share the results of the 
actions of the one who represents them, and 
generally they confirm by their approval his 
acts. So the head of a nation to the world, so 
the ambassador of a nation to another nation — 
so the representative of a district in the State 
Legislature or the Congress, so the father of a 
group of children, so a husband of a wife — so in 
the varied relations of life. And so in our varied 
relation to Adam. He represented us; we share 
in the results of his acts, especially as we gener- 
ally approve of his acts by our own like action. 

Heredity also prevails in human life — and in 
many cases shows us how the traits of a repre- 
sentative are handed down in his descendants. 

Let us remember also that not only is the 
sinfulness of our nature traced to Adam's fall — 
but also the nobility comes from him. The many 
good traits and the discontent with our evil 
propensities we have this morning been consider- 
ing are descended from him. The likeness of 
God in Adam has not been effaced, only blurred. 
We have it in our nature from him. 

Let us also remember that the law of repre- 
sentation and inheritance is a good law coming 
from the good God, its law giver. 

Whatever of injury has come upon us has been 
from disobedience to God. What untold blessings 



50 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



have come from even its partial obedience can be 
traced in the blessings of our advancing Chris- 
tian civilization. 

Let us also remember that this law of repre- 
sentation carries in its bosom the wonderful love 
of God in the great salvation wrought for us by 
his son, our Savior Jesus Christ. 

He becomes our great representative and we 
can by faith receive his great salvation and grow 
like him. 

There was a great nobility in Adam created in 
the likeness of God and representing the race but 
he fell by yielding to temptation and ceasing to 
love God supremely. 

There is infinite nobility and dignity in Jesus 
Christ, the son of God and representing the 
race — He resisted all temptation — He loved God 
supremely — He loved man so He died for him; 
and He freely calls upon us all to share His re- 
demption and fullness of life. 

Now behold the greatness of His redemptive 
law and redeeming love. If a single one of us 
is finally lost, is swept away from God into 
wickedness and death it will not be because we 
are in Adam but because we refuse to be in 
Christ. 

Christ has followed us in His yearning love; 
He calls us to himself in full and free salvation 
from all sin. Let us yield ourselves to His 
attraction and come back into the orbit of light 
and life, the supreme love of God. 



IV. 

FOURTH LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



DESERT OF SUSP 



For the wrath of God is revealed from 
heaven against all ungodliness and unright- 
eousness of men who hinder the truth in 
unrighteousness. — Rom. 1 :18. 



UR Catechism now holds before our seri- 



ous attention the justice of God in the 



^ — punishment of sin. We have looked upon 
ourselves as breaking the law of our being and 
as members of a sinful race. Now we ask our 
hushed and trembling hearts, How does God 
look upon us? Is there such a thing as wrath 
in God? Surely not the causeless flying into 
anger we so often find in ourselves. But we 
sometimes have righteous indignation against 
wrong doing; we expect that and admire it often 
in a Judge in Court as he sentences a hardened 
criminal. Is there such a thing in God, and is it 
ever aroused against man, against us! Is there 
a constant and steadfast opposition to sin in 
the very nature of God. And is it aroused 
against us? Is there such a thing as justice in 
God? Does he ever punish sin in this life. Does 
sin now under the government of a just God ever 
bring suffering upon us sinners. Will sin under 




51 



52 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



the government of a just God have anything to 
do with the final destiny of us sinners. 

These are questions that must arise in thought- 
ful minds. If the justice of God punishes sin in 
time and in eternity it is far from wise for us to 
blind our eyes to it. On the contrary it is the 
part of manliness to find the truth, and to look 
at it clearly now while we may do it calmly and 
thoroughly, while we have health of body and 
vigor of mind and time given us to take the 
action prudence may demand. 

That we may consider this all important sub- 
ject solely in its bearing upon ourselves, we 
should now exercise a proper sympathy for our 
fellow-men; think of others for a while that we 
at length may think only of ourselves. That a 
multitude of our fellows should be in danger of 
present and endless woe must fill every sensitive 
mind with deep sorrow. This serious distress of 
our minds is not sinful but good, it allies us with 
our Savior who wept over Jerusalem. We think 
of three great classes of our fellow-men. Those 
dying in infancy. They have a sinful nature. 
Are they lost? No. No. They are saved in 
Christ. The whole tenor of the Scriptures 
emphasizes Christ's words, "Suffer the little 
children to come unto me, of such is the king- 
dom of heaven/' Not the will of your Father in 
heaven that one of these little ones should perish. 
They are lost in Adam. True! But they are 
saved in Christ. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 53 



The heathen who have never heard of a Savior. 
Punishment by a just God will be graded accord- 
ing to knowledge of the law. Those who know 
not this law and still demand stripes, Christ 
said, "would be beaten with few stripes." The 
Apostle Paul says they will be judged according 
to their deeds under the law they knew. Our 
sympathy for the heathen should lead us to send 
the Gospel of Christ to them. 

The third great class embraces those who in 
our own Christian land have been shut out by 
vicious surroundings from all Christian influ- 
ences. There are hells we know, here in our 
land, dens of iniquity, vice and misery, from 
whence those who once enter seldom return. 
You would not see one dear to you enter to 
abide there. Our sympathy for those in such 
hells should lead us to every effort to rescue 
them and to close such hells. This was in 
Christ's mission and should be in ours. Of all 
these classes we may be sure whatever the Great 
Father, whatever the blessed Savior can do to 
save men from endless woe will be done for 
them as is being done for us. We may therefore 
leave them in God's hands. 

Now let us be sure our sympathy for others 
has only this wholesome influence upon us — to 
lead us to help them. Let us guard against its 
withdrawing our attention in the smallest degree 
from our own condition in the sight of the justice 
of God. It is so natural for us to judge others 
and excuse ourselves, to hide ourselves behind 



54 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



others, that there is special need for us now to 
think only of ourselves as standing before the 
bar of the Just God. Let us however much pain 
and anxiety it may cause find out how we stand 
in reference to the punishment of sin. If we 
are in danger of it we ought to know it. 

A very fair and difficult question now arises. 
In what sense and to what degree are we account- 
able for a sinful nature which we have without 
any choice of our own; for we are prone to 
disobey the law of love. This is the original sin 
spoken of in the Catechism. We are personally 
not guilty of Adam's sin ; but we have his nature 
inherited from our representative, our head. How 
are we responsible for such sinful nature? Let 
us consider a case we frequently meet, upon 
which the moral judgment of mankind is very 
clear and which though special throws such light 
upon our general condition. 

A man inherits from a long line of ancestry 
a fiery temper. He is easily thrown into a hot 
rage in which he speaks and acts disgracefully. 

What does his own and the moral sense of 
mankind say of him. Three things — 

FIRST : No mode of reasoning can lead him 
or his fellows to pronounce that that fiery nature 
is right and should be approved. It must be 
condemned. 

SECOND: HE should restrain and as far as 
persistent and steady effort may go he should so 
control it that he is the complete master of it. He 
should embrace all agencies to secure this control. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 55 



THIRD : If he pursues the reverse course, and 
his fiery temper issues in some outrageous act, 
his moral sense and that of mankind hold him 
responsible both for the temper and the act. 

Do not all these things hold true of us all in 
our general condition, a nature prone to disobey 
the law of God, the law of our being. 

No mode of reasoning can approve of our sin- 
ful nature. We should embrace all agencies at 
hand to restrain our sinfulness. Failing in this 
when we commit acts of sin does not our con- 
science condemn us both for the nature and 
the act. 

Surely we cannot even desire that God would 
lower his law to our condition, would require us 
to love Him only after we had loved ourselves 
supremely, with the poor little remnant of our 
power to love. That would give up forever the 
noble purpose for which He made us. Besides, 
as long as God is good, worthy of highest love — 
and as long as man is his creature having power 
to love, as long as God is God and man is man 
created in His image, so long the only right thing 
conceivable is for man to love God. 

The law is the transcript of the Divine Nature, 
it defines man's nature and is calculated to pro- 
mote his highest welfare, to change it to meet 
man's sinfulness would be unjust both to God 
and man. 

Our Catechism is evidently right in saying 
that God does no injustice to man in requiring 
him to keep the law, since he has lost his power 



56 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



of keeping it by his own act. The most unjust 
thing to man would be to encourage him in 
his sin. 

The race of men universally and constantly 
breaks the law of our being, you and I con- 
stantly break this law. Still it remains true 
that God is infinitely worthy of our love and the 
obligation rests upon us to love Him with all 
our heart. 

Our sinfulness is our unjustifiable refusal to 
do what we ought to do. We are not coerced to 
sin. No force outside us controls us. Alas all 
is within us! it is our nature. It approves and 
indulges itself. 

We now face the justice of God in the punish- 
ment of sin. 

If a man approves and indulges this sinful 
nature and neglects or rejects the means provided 
by God to restrain and overcome it, will God 
punish him in this life? If a man leaves this 
world in such antagonism with God and reject- 
ing His Grace, will God punish him in the world 
to come? And will the punishment continue as 
long as the sin continues? Let us each one make 
the question personal. Will God punish me? 

We may think of punishment as suffering 
brought upon one for disobedience to law inflicted 
by one who has the right to enforce the law. 
The law has a penalty which is inflicted upon 
the violator of law by the Judge appointed by 
the law. Justice is aimed at it in every case but 
it may be very difficult in human laws to secure 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 57 



it and often the penalty is absurdly different 
from the offence. Still man in society tries self- 
government, and recognizes that the penalty is 
an essential in law; that society to be at all 
secure must frown upon those who violate the 
laws of its well being. 

Is there such a thing as penalty for the viola- 
tion of God's law, have we incurred it? Will He 
inflict it? If so, we may be sure He is not 
limited as we are, the penalty will be something 
suitable to the offence and the infliction of it 
will be sure. 

We should now look fearlessly upon the fact 
that God punishes disobedience to law. In the 
first place nature shows it very plainly. We are 
living our earthly life under the reign of law, 
every instant of our life, and every part of one's 
life is under law. Now, these laws of nature 
have penalties and these are self-inflicting. We 
are under physical law, the law of gravitation, 
for instance, holds us lovingly to the bosom of 
the earth for our well-being. But if one breaks 
this law, if he falls from the top of a skyscraper 
to the street, he is broken to pieces. Sternly, 
relentlessly but never malignantly nature visits 
disobedience with punishment. We are under 
laws of health, proper food taken in proper ways 
ministers to our strength; but poison in large 
enough quantities, just as surely kills. Sternly, 
relentlessly, but never malignantly nature visits 
disobedience with punishment. 



58 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



We are under mental laws. To pay careful 
attention to our daily work gives strength of 
mind for that work, gives knowledge and suc- 
cess; to be careless and thoughtless brings igno- 
rance, inefficiency and failure. Sternly, relent- 
lessly, but never malignantly, nature visits pun- 
ishment upon disobedience. 

So we are under moral laws. To give our 
hearty allegiance to the truth, to be true to our 
word, to our promise, makes strong character 
and secures the confidence of our fellows. To 
be false, to speak falsehood, to break promises 
makes weak character and forfeits the confidence 
of our fellows. Sternly, relentlessly but never 
malignantly nature visits disobedience with pun- 
ishment. 

So we are under social laws. If one thinks 
of others, considers their interests, promotes 
their happiness, acknowledges their rights, he 
develops a social nature, has the happiness of 
pleasant associations and the satisfaction of 
ministering to their welfare. But if he holds 
himself aloof from his fellows — or selfishly preys 
upon them, if he seeks only selfish aims, he 
becomes hard and cold hearted and his fellows 
turn upon him the cold shoulder. The one has 
positive happiness in the family, making it a 
happy family, and so in all the relations of life. 
The other has only misery and makes misery. 
Here also sternly, relentlessly but never malig- 
nantly nature visits disobedience with punish- 
ment. These are a few of nature's many voices 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 59 



and they all tell us that God's laws have rewards 
for obedience and punishment for disobedience. 

Thus nature confirms what our reason has 
already made clear. The distinction between 
right and wrong is unchangeable. Our conscience 
cannot approve this wrong; cannot approve our 
own sinful nature and acts; our violation of the 
law of our being. God, the perfect Being, must 
from His very nature now and to all eternity 
approve the right and oppose the wrong. He 
will reward obedience to His good law. The law 
involving all others, the law of our being; just 
as truly He will punish disobedience to this law, 
and the punishment will exactly suit the offence. 

Now when we look at the Scripture the truth 
is made still more plain. 

There is such a thing as not entering, not 
even seeing the Kingdom of God. There is such 
a thing as losing one's soul. The Gospel tells 
us. "He that believeth not the son shall not see 
life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." The 
Apostle Paul writes our text. "The righteous in- 
dignation of God is revealed from Heaven against 
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." 

Is there punishment beyond death? We know 
sinfulness tends to fixedness, to confirm itself; 
we know that sinfulness tends to separate itself 
from the good and ally itself with the evil. There 
is a terrible possibility of turning away deliber- 
ately from repentance and trust in Christ for 
new life and going out of this stage of existence 
into the next with fixedness of sinful character, 



60 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



to separate from all good and to endless sin — 
and to endless punishment. 

We are not to think of everlasting punishment 
as inflicted for a single — or for a few sinful acts, 
or for all such committed in this life. Rather it 
is inflicted upon our sinful nature as confirmed 
by long indulgence and sinful acts here and now, 
and issuing in continued acts of sin in the changed 
circumstances of another life. As long as the 
sin lasts, it deserves punishment. If one is 
everlasting, the other is also. Everlasting sin 
and everlasting punishment. Everlasting sin 
enduring everlasting punishment, restrained by 
such punishment from further growth and held 
by such punishment as deserving condemnation 
in the judgment of all who may know of it. 

Neither are we to consider the nature and 
severity of such punishment in the future life as 
depicted to us by the morbid imagination of some 
of our fellow-men, men of great genius, great 
poets though they may be. 

We are to remember that both heaven and hell 
cannot be clearly described to us. Our language 
is based solely upon our experiences. Gold and 
jewels are admired by us here in this life. But 
we are not to think of the heavenly city as hav- 
ing walls and streets of literal jewels and gold. 
Only the circumstances of the blessed life will 
be wonderfully rich and attractive. So we are 
not to think of the literal undying worm and 
unquenched fire of hell — though Dante and Mil- 
ton have let their imaginations dwell on such 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 61 



horrors. We will do well to remember that our 
Savior in his love and faithfulness to us took 
experiences we loathe here to warn us that the 
everlasting punishment of sin was terrible in its 
nature — not the literal fire and worm — but the 
outward circumstances, the penalty, will be in 
keeping with sinfulness confirmed, unrepented of 
and active still against God and one's fellows. 

Surely the only lesson our clear-eyed reason 
, can see is that we should restrain our sinfulness 
now and should seek new life from God our 
Savior instantly and earnestly. 

Surely he who rejects such restraint — who in- 
dulges his sinfulness can expect from the justice 
of God only suitable suffering both in this life 
and in the life to come. 



V. 

FIFTH LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"HELPLESSNESS OF THE SINNER" 

This is the message which we have 
heard from Him and announce unto you 
that God is light and in Him is no dark- 
ness at all. — I John 1:5. 

WHEN one is in great bodily danger the 
instinct of self preservation seeks at 
once to escape. He is a good and wise 
friend who warns him against false ways — ways 
that perhaps involve him in greater danger, and 
shows him the true way to reach safety. 

Our Catechism in the last question of the 4th 
Lord's Day and in this Lord's Day seeks to act 
the part of such a good friend. We have been 
awakened to a sense of our sinfulness and its 
punishment. We are in danger — and we seek to 
escape. 

Our first instinctive impulse is to cast our- 
selves upon the mercy of God. 

Now the Catechism startles us by saying — 
There is mercy with God — but his mercy is al- 
ways in full harmony with the justice that 
requires the punishment of sin. Our reason at 
once confirms this view. Mercy can never set 
law aside, the law of God's nature and of our 

62 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 63 



own being. To be real mercy it must re-establish 
the law. We try to apply this in our state laws, 
and extend mercy to the condemned only where 
there seems to be good hope of renewed obedience 
to law. Nature also teaches this to the attentive 
mind. We are under physical, mental and moral 
laws, and nature sternly inflicts punishment for 
the violation of these laws. Just as truly while 
life lasts, in the lasting of life itself and in the 
restorative agencies nature sets at work there is 
mercy. A man has broken the laws of health. 
He falls short of the buoyancy of health; he 
suffers sickness. But there are restorative agen- 
cies in nature ready for his immediate and wise 
application. So in mental laws. He has been 
thoughtless and indifferent and suffers the con- 
sequence in ignorance and mental weakness; but 
still there are stimulating and helpful agencies 
all about him to arouse him. 

So with moral laws — coming close to our pres- 
ent thought. There are two opposite principles 
— the love of God and the love of self. We break 
the law of our being and love self instead of 
God. Where love of God and our fellow-men 
would bring joy and gladness, love of self brings 
grasping and misery. Take it for instance, in 
the family. The selfish man becomes exacting, 
faultfinding, scolding, cold and hard ; but he lives 
on and his family lives on and other families 
live on in their varied experiences. He may at 
length feel all these many influences of God's 
mercy around him and respond to them. Spared 



64 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



life and the restorative agencies of nature are 
the mercy of God in this life. Oh, how great, 
how varied, how strong. They are restorative, 
do you see. They do not set aside law; they 
are in harmony with justice. Supposing one 
rejects them; fails to apply them. What then! 
He remains sick, he remains ignorant, he remains 
selfish. Also he becomes confirmed in all these 
— and then he dies. 

It is the height of improbability that all this 
will be reversed in the world to come. Nature 
shows both justice and mercy in this life; visits 
punishment upon disobedience; starts many re- 
storative forces to the end of life, and nature 
intimates that the life beyond will not be differ- 
ent either in justice or mercy. God does not 
change when we die — nor do we. Only the 
terrible truth faces us. Our disobedience becomes 
confirmed in our character. So does our rejec- 
tion of mercy to the end of this life. Death 
does not change us; only takes us away as he 
finds us. 

When we turn now from our reason and ob- 
servation of nature to the Scriptures, we find 
from the time of Moses through all the sacred 
record the mercy of God is set forth as in full 
harmony with His justice. He is indeed merci- 
ful and gracious but He will in no wise clear the 
guilty. As in nature, God never interposes a 
barrier between sin and evil, between cause and 
effect, and shows mercy only to bring back to 
full obedience. So in the Scripture His mercy 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 65 



never exempts from responsibility, never en- 
courages man to imagine he can escape the 
evil consequences of his sin. God's mercy does 
not seek to make men comfortable in sin, but 
morally sound and strong in coming out of sin. 
It is in full harmony with His justice. 

There are great generalizations in the Scrip- 
tures — concise, all-embracing descriptions of 
God's nature. One text says "God is light" ; but 
light is the very opposite of darkness. They 
are not in harmony — do not and cannot exist 
together. So God is love. But love always seeks 
the welfare of its object. It would not be love 
but hatred to encourage the sinner in his sin; 
to make light of disobedience to the law of our 
being. The only true love must run in full 
harmony with justice. The indulgent love of 
parents often encourages children in evil ways, 
to their great injury. It is unwise, not wise, 
love; cannot be called true love. There can be 
nothing like this in the true love of God for 
man. His love always seeks man's restoration 
to obedience. Here also man may so confirm 
himself in sin that he resists the love of God 
seeking to win him from his sin. So man may 
go out of this life into the world to come still 
resisting God's love. 

When we are thus forced to think of endless 
sin and endless punishment of sin, we are apt 
to regard it as a blot on God's fair creation. 
This is a great mystery, no doubt, and far be- 
yond our solving; but it is only the continuation 



66 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



of the mystery of the presence of sin now in the 
universe of God. We have a glimpse of its 
solution. Man is a moral being, free to choose 
the right or the wrong. This is his nature. God 
will not coerce him at all. He will do all He can 
to influence him, but to force him in his choice 
is not conceivable. It would not be man's choice 
at all. So it is possible that man may so confirm 
himself in sin that he will harden himself against 
all influence God brings to him — against all 
justice — against all mercy and love. 

We are forced then to ask what is the use of 
punishment if it does not reform the sinner? 
We can see, perhaps, three uses — First, it may 
and does check the sinner's growth in sin. 
Reason tells us man may develop his powers 
greatly; but it is only by obedience to the laws 
of his being. Nature tells us the same story, 
physical, intellectual, moral development follow 
the right use of our powers according to the 
law of our being. The reverse is just as true. 
And often witnessed in sad cases. A man of 
fine physical and moral powers, a born leader 
of men, throws himself into courses of sin and 
becomes so weak in all his powers that he has 
to be cared for by his friends. Often the process 
is long and one of great distress. And it cer- 
tainly gives an intimation that in the world to 
come the lengthened and distressful process may 
end in annihilation; a terrible suggestion that 
throws little light but only luridness upon the 
subject. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 67 



The second use of punishment is that it checks 
the contaminating powers of sin. Many are de- 
terred from courses of sin by the fearful fate of 
those who pursue them. Future punishment is 
foreseen, and becomes at length real, checks in 
thoughtful beings the seductive powers of sin. 

The third use of punishment is to manifest 
this inherent evil in disobedience of law to all 
beings in the wide universe of God who may 
witness it. Our little earth is a small ball re- 
volving about a small sun — and it teems with 
life and carries our race of moral beings upon 
its bosom. There are myriad such suns and 
larger ones— there may be myriad such earths — 
there may be myriad races of moral beings. Our 
sad experience may manifest God's displeasure 
against sin, the inherent evil in sin, and thus 
be a terrible and needed warning to untold races 
of moral beings. 

These reasons throw little light, only lurid- 
ness, upon the subject. I have mentioned them 
since they enter so widely into recent discussions. 

We should keep in mind the great personal 
interest we have in the subject. Not be dis- 
tracted by questions of general interest from 
those of intense, personal interest. Justice may 
ask, and does ask, "What will be the effect of 
punishment upon the sinner and upon others?" 
And we may properly consider it. After all, 
the question for each one of us of supreme 
importance to each one, is, what has justice 
against me? what do I deserve for the violation 



68 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



of the law of my being? We find terrible de- 
scriptions in the Scriptures of the damnation 
and severity of the punishment of sin. The 
remarkable thing is that some of the most severe 
teachings of the Scripture come from the lips of 
Jesus Christ, the friend of sinners, the Savior. 
They are the warnings of divine and infinite love 
— the love that seeks to save from sin. His mis- 
sion to the earth is a convincing proof of the 
hideous nature of sin and of its awful conse- 
quences. The cross glowing with the saving love 
is raised against the dark background of human 
sin and misery. 

The punishment of sin is therefore not a ques- 
tion of expediency, the good it may do; not a 
question of choice, of the will of God, as an 
arbitrary Ruler who might have willed the re- 
verse. It is an outcome of the divine nature as 
opposed to sin. The enormity of man's sin de- 
serves God's frown. The infinitely good God 
cannot look upon it with the least degree of 
allowance — in time or in eternity. 

The difficulty we have in recognizing the hid- 
eous nature of our sin arises from two sources. 
They are both easily recognized. The first is, 
that we are the beings involved, and it is natural 
for us to think the best of ourselves. But in 
our own Courts of Justice, we take but little 
account of what the culprit thinks of his offence 
and its desert. The second is, that we judge 
ourselves by human standards and compare our- 
selves with each other. There is such a thing 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 69 



as original sin, not that we are at all guilty of 
Adam's sin, but we have inherited from the head 
of the race, a sinful nature. Just as truly there 
is original goodness. We have inherited from 
the head of the race fragments of his original 
nature, in the likeness of God. Men are neither 
wholly good nor wholly bad. Temperament, race, 
education, the accidents of life modify both and 
lead to social standards and a vast variety of 
character. Soon there come comparisons. Each 
may say, I am not so bad by such a standard, 
not as bad as someone else. There is none so 
bad but there is some good in him ; the image of 
God is not entirely destroyed. So there is none 
so good but there is some bad in him, which may 
flame out to the astonishment of all. 

But it behooves us to frankly and fully judge 
ourselves not by human standards, but by the 
divine — not by social laws, but by the divine law 
of our being. Not by comparison with other 
sinners, but by comparison with what we ought 
to be in God's sight. When we thus look upon 
ourselves, our virtues, as we may be pleased to 
call them, are deformed and darkened, and we 
draw back instinctively from vices of which we 
recognize we are capable. 

We are sinful both by nature and by practice, 
and we see that God in His nature cannot do 
less or otherwise than condemn us. Whatever 
good remains in us from the great head of the 
race created in the likeness of God, whatever 
good we find in our present experience and in 



70 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



our aspirations and ideals, should be held by us 
open to the appeals and influences of the mercy 
of God, open to the warnings and the pleadings 
of the Savior of sinners. The Scriptures ever 
hold before us the enormity of sin, its distrust of 
God, its disobedience of God, its dislike of God, 
its selfishness against our fellow-men — ever hold 
before us its hideous nature, and the awful pun- 
ishment it deserves in time and eternity, and so 
urge upon our acceptance the Savior of sinners. 

Now we ask again the question with which we 
began our morning's meditation. How shall we 
escape this punishment in time and in eternity? 
More, how shall we escape that which deserves 
punishment, present sin and its hideous off- 
spring — endless sin? 

The Catechism gives a curt reply to the sug- 
gestion: that we may make satisfaction our- 
selves. It says, "By no means, but on the 
contrary we daily increase our debt." Still men 
in all ages have tried to save themselves, and 
it is certainly wisdom for us to have clear views 
of the futility of such efforts, lest we think we 
may be successful in making them. Of course we 
see the fatuity of thinking of bearing our punish- 
ment fully until it is exhausted and we go free. 
We do not know what a particular act of sin, 
one single act deserves. Besides, we keep our 
sinful nature and continue particular acts in- 
definitely. 

The curt answer of the Catechism is clearly 
the truth. But men in all ages have tried 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 71 



penance. They have withdrawn from the world 
in deserts and cells — have starved themselves — 
have inflicted stripes and tortures upon them- 
selves. But we recognize clearly that no one has 
the right to withdraw from the world. His 
duty is to help his fellow-men — no one has the 
right to inflict suffering upon himself, he is not 
the judge of what he deserves; he cannot please 
the loving Father by self-inflicted pains and 
torture. 

But men have always relied upon repentance 
— sorrow for sin and turning from that parti- 
cular sin. This truly is an unquestionable duty, 
in every soul awakened to a sense of sin. But 
each one recognizes its futility in any particular 
case. It does not restore to the original condi- 
tion — it does not mete out the exact justice — it 
only is the conscience seeking relief, and finding 
none. The sensualist repents of the disgrace 
and ruin he has brought upon a lovely family, 
but it does not restore peace and honor to the 
family, nor give peace to his conscience. An 
honored banker died suddenly at his desk the 
other day. He had had time to take a curl of hair 
from a secret drawer in his desk and he held it 
to his lips — the curl of the girl he had ruined 
in his youth and who had killed herself long 
ago. Besides repentance is not only sorrow and 
restitution, it is turning from the sin. It is easy 
to see how difficult it is in some particular cases 
— and how utterly impossible it is in the case of 
our sinful nature. This may seem weak and 



72 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



dormant, but it is still there and strong. Let 
God check some cherished plan or man try to 
defeat our earnest purpose, and it flames up in 
hatred of God and man. No man has rid him- 
self of it. 

Then men in all ages have relied upon doing 
what may be called extra good works — but we 
easily see the futility of such an idea. It is not 
a question of outward acts, but of inward nature. 
The law requires such an inward nature that it 
will control all outward acts. There can be no 
extra good works. All good works are already 
embraced in the law of our being. All self- 
sacrifice or self-devotion is embraced already in 
the law. "Though I bestow all my goods to feed 
the poor," says the Apostle Paul, "and though I 
give my body to be burned and have not love, 
it profiteth me nothing." It is possible for a 
very bad man morally, a sensualist, an infidel, 
to be a patriot, even to die on the field of 
battle for his country in this just cause, but even 
this supreme sacrifice is embraced in his general 
duty, and certainly cannot atone for his depraved 
nature and dreadful sinful acts. In our day, 
as well as in the past, much thought, much effort 
and vast fortunes have been given for religious 
and philanthropic work. Much credit is to be 
bestowed upon the givers, as they have sincerely 
desired to serve mankind, and much good has 
been accomplished ; but if the givers have thought 
by such gifts to free themselves from the pun- 
ishment of sin in acquiring or using fortunes 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 73 



or of any other sin — or of sin itself, if they have 
thought of thus bribing God, the Just Judge, to 
cleanse them from punishment, it is impossible to 
think of greater folly. 

One more hope of escape may arise in some 
minds. If we cannot save ourselves, will not 
someone save us? It is a quite natural hope 
when we think of a single sin — or a single 
course of sin — and of the wonderful depth and 
strength of self-sacrificing love. Many a mother 
would give herself to save her son from ruin — 
many a loving wife would sacrifice herself for 
her husband's welfare. There may be some 
worldly men who have lurking thoughts that it 
will be better for them in the future life as it 
undoubtedly is in this life, because of the Chris- 
tian virtues of good women in close relations 
with them. But it surely cannot be a serious 
hope in any thoughtful soul. 

The Catechism is frank, faithful and evidently 
right in its answer. It is a question of a sinful 
nature, of a whole sinful life, of a breaking the 
law of our being. No single one of the human 
race, the most consecrated, saintly mother — the 
most devoted true wife, the truest best friend, 
is so exempt or above the claims of the law as 
to be able to bear the punishment of or for 
another. And if he or she could be found, God 
would not inflict on such an one the punishment 
due to another. 

Let us face the conclusion of the matter. We 
deserve punishment of our sin in breaking the 



74 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



law of our being. An awful offence, a terrible 
punishment. 

We cannot save ourselves. The various avenues 
of escape we have thought of, are all closed 
against us. 

We cannot hope for anyone of all the human 
race to save us. However great the love, how- 
ever great the virtue, however close the tie, that 
escape is closed to us. There is only the hope 
that the human love willing to save by great 
self-sacrifices which we find in our hearts as a 
fragment of God's image inherited from Adam, 
the head of the race, may indicate that such 
love exists in God in such purity and to such 
extent that he may sacrifice Himself to save us. 

Should there be such love in Him, surely it 
would be light indeed, it would dispel our dark- 
ness. 

There is such love in Him. He has given his 
own well beloved Son to save us — and Jesus 
Christ has died for us — the Son of God and the 
Son of man. And the infinite nature of His 
atoning death and the infinite grace and power 
of his holy life are sufficient to supply all our 
need and are freely offered and urged upon us 
in the Gospel. 

It is for us to commit ourselves fully and 
unreservedly to Him in faith. "Believe in the 
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be Saved." 



VI. 

SIXTH LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"THE DIVINE SAVIOUR" 

For there is one God and one mediator 
between God and men, the man Christ 
Jesus. — I Tim. 2:5. 



T the close of our last Meditation on the 



5th Lord's Day of the Catechism, we 



saw a glimmer of light. There is that in 
human hearts which leads to self-sacrifice for 
others; if this is a dulled fragment of our 
nature as God created us in His likeness, then 
it exists in God's nature in infinite degree and 
in exercising it with His infinite wisdom He may 
devise and execute our deliverance from both sin 
and from its punishment. It was but a glimmer 
but in this Lord's Day of the Catechism it is 
seen to be the first ray of the rising sun — the 
dawn of the full day of our salvation. 

It rises upon our darkness. There is no hope 
in ourselves. We have broken the law of our 
being. We are so corrupt in our sinfulness that 
we cannot cast it off. Left to ourselves there 
can only be everlasting sinfulness — we have so 
incurred guilt in our sinfulness that we deserve 
punishment — as long as sin lasts this must last 
— left to ourselves there can be only the dreadful 
destiny of everlasting sin and punishment of sin. 




75 



76 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Let us now expel from our minds and hearts 
forever the faintest hope of ever saving ourselves, 
— and let us look to God to save us. 

God's plan of saving man. It is a great sub- 
ject, the outcome of God's infinite love and wis- 
dom. We will never exhaust it. Never fully 
comprehend it. May it be the subject of our 
adoring contemplation throughout the eternity 
of blessedness and praise. 

But we can understand enough of it now to 
cast ourselves wholly and unreservedly upon God 
our Savior. All the teaching of the Scripture is 
to lead us to do this, and the more we grow in 
our understanding of it, the more we will grow 
in our appreciation of God's grace to us, grow in 
our sense of obligation and gratitude to Him. 
And so his law will be re-established in us. 

This Lord's Day of the Catechism tries to set 
God's salvation before us in concise and clear 
outline, but not to in any way exhaust it. 
Rather it leads on to the whole remaining part 
of the Catechism. It is a text to be enlarged 
upon and made clear in the text of the Catechism 
— in the truths of the Apostles Creed, in the 
Sacraments of our religion, in the duties of the 
Ten Commandments and in the privileges of the 
Lord's Prayer. 

There is a striking characteristic of human 
nature with which we are so familiar in daily 
experience that we seldom pause to think of its 
wonderful influence upon our welfare. The human 
race exists in successive generations. Each 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 77 



generation starts out on an experience entirely- 
new to it, it must mould its own life, depend 
upon itself largely for its welfare. But just 
as truly each new generation inherits from the 
last generation its character, its energy and its 
attainments, and so largely from all prior genera- 
tions. When we descend from generals to in- 
dividuals this characteristic of humanity has vast 
influences. The child will have to depend largely 
upon its growing powers for its adult welfare; 
just as truly the child inherits from parents the 
prominence of chin, the shape of nose, the color 
of eye, the character and initiative ; and also much 
of the circumstances of life. There is such a 
thing as heredity, we cannot tell how strong, 
and also such a thing as inheritance of property, 
not only but of standing in society. We have 
already had a glimpse of how much a mother 
will do to save a boy — how much a wife will do 
to help a husband, individual instances of self- 
sacrificing love awaken often the greatest ad- 
miration ; but no one has ever estimated, or ever 
can estimate the amount of self-sacrifice the love 
of parents makes for children, the amount of 
effort and thought one generation makes for the 
coming generation. This is in the very constitu- 
tion of our nature as social beings, and comes 
directly from the hand of our creator, is a part 
of our likeness to Him — the image in which He 
created us. We speak of Adam as the head of 
the race of mankind, as such father he repre- 
sented the race. So in a true sense every father 



78 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



represents his children, their future depends 
largely upon his character and acts. So in a 
true sense every generation represents the next 
generation, moulds its character by heredity, and 
makes its welfare largely by inheritance of attain- 
ments and conditions. How much would the race 
advance were not this characteristic shadowed 
and warped by sin the strongest imagination can 
but faintly see. How fearfully sin has de- 
graded this characteristic in many a family, and 
in many a nation until ruin has supplanted wel- 
fare we alas know too well. But this character- 
istic remains and affords our only hope for the 
welfare of the race. 

As we look more closely into the varied rela- 
tions of human society this characteristic of 
representation becomes very prominent. It can 
be traced in wide influence in all stages of ad- 
vance from savagery through barbarism to 
civilization. It is very prominent in our own 
freedom-loving country. 

Our district elects a representative to the State 
Legislature or the National Congress. Our state 
elects a Governor. Our nation elects a President. 
The President appoints an Ambassador from our 
nation to another nation. Now there is one 
certain principle running through the whole com- 
plicated system. The man elected must be a 
citizen of the district or state. The President 
must be a citizen of the nation. So the ambassa- 
dor. It is not only essential he should be a 
citizen, but very desirable that he should be able 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 79 



and good. A strong personality for he is to 
represent a district, a state, a nation. He should 
be a worthy representative. 

For it is further a principle that the act of 
the representative is to be credited to the repre- 
sented, in effect they act through him. What 
kind of laws do we of any district or state 
want made for our government, let us select 
wisely our law maker for we will be bound 
by his act. He acts for us. What kind of 
relation to other nations, to the world do we 
want. Let us select wisely our president, for he 
will represent our great nation of 100,000,000 
people — freedom-loving people, prosperous, virtu- 
ous people — to the world, and we will be bound 
by his actions. If we want to be credited with 
lofty actions, let us select a lofty personality for 
our representative, for we must be credited with 
the act of our representative. Thus a person 
may have vast dignity in himself, be a wise 
patriot and statesman; we add vast dignity to 
him when we elect him the President. 

Now it is this characteristic of human nature 
that the Catechism sets before us as it begins 
to teach us of God's salvation from sin and its 
terrible punishment. 

What does God need toward man? A repre- 
sentative. What does man need toward God? 
A representative. The Catechism uses a word 
embracing both truths. There is great need of 
a mediator, one who will stand between two 
estranged parties and bring them into accord. 



80 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Wonderful parties these, the infinite God and the 
whole race of mankind ; so he must be a wonder- 
ful person this mediator. 

We have seen how God is estranged from us; 
how his righteous indignation is aroused against 
our sinful nature and sinful acts — how this in- 
finite justice must ever inflict punishment while 
sinful nature and sinful acts last, and that there 
is no hope in ourselves, or in any of our fellows 
of passing from under this just indignation. 

What kind of a representative do we need to 
deliver us from this just indignation? The Cate- 
chism answers, First: he must be a true man 
and perfectly righteous. But we have already 
looked for such a one, and have not been able 
to find him. Now let us look to God to provide 
him. He must be a true man. We have broken 
the law of our being, and have come under the 
penalty of that law. A representative must not 
be of another order of being — however great and 
noble. He could not represent the nation, he 
must share it with us, must be a fellow-citizen. 

He must be perfectly righteous. Must obey this 
law of our being perfectly. If he should have 
broken it, he has already dishonored it, and 
come under its penalty himself. He might as 
such represent us, but alas too well, he could not 
do anything beyond wiiat we could do, he could 
not deliver us, he must then bear the punishment 
for himself, besides he then could no longer keep 
the law for he would be corrupt as we are. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 81 



Now, supposing such a one could be found a 
true man who was perfectly righteous, what 
could he do for us. He is a mere man as we 
are — a person of great dignity and worth, but 
he stands only for himself. There is nothing 
he can do extra to keeping the law — the law 
requires his whole manhood. If he offered to 
sacrifice himself for us, he would have no right 
to do so — all his being belongs to God already, 
and his suffering punishment for us would be 
unjust in itself, and not accepted by God. 

It requires a greater person than a mere man 
however noble and great to represent the whole 
race of mankind, to act for them as a representa- 
tive in such vast concerns that the race repre- 
sented may be fully credited with the worth and 
effect of his acts. 

There are two prominent things we need done 
for us by our representative, and so done that 
we may be assured that God receives them as 
if they were done by ourselves — for that is the 
essence of representation. The first is that the 
punishment due to our sins should be borne by 
our representative that there is nothing left for 
us to bear, that justice is entirely satisfied. The 
second is that a righteousness under the law of 
our being complete and perfect in the sight of 
the great law giver should be secured for us and 
applied to us — so that the law of our being is 
fully re-established in our lives with all its 
blessed effects. 



82 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



So the next answer of the Catechism clearly 
sets forth that our mediator — our representa- 
tive to act fully for us in such a way as to supply 
all needs must be the very God. In one person 
he must be a true man perfectly righteous and 
just as truly he must be God, a personality 
worthy to represent not a family, not a nation- 
ality, but the race of mankind ; to represent such 
a race in such a way as to save both from the 
punishment and the corruption of sin and to 
restore to us righteousness and life. 

Thus we are brought to the astounding con- 
clusion that no creature of God, no creation of 
His infinite power can ever represent us — that 
only God Himself can represent us by assuming 
our nature, by becoming man, the God-man. 

Should such a one be found he will not only 
represent man to God, but he will just as fully 
represent God to man. That which is the cry- 
ing need of our nature a worthy representative 
meets a response in God's nature for we are 
created in His likeness. In our feeble way we 
are searchers for truth, but we so often unduly 
magnify portions of truth that the whole is 
distorted. 

We sometimes hear the love of God spoken 
of as if there was no righteous indignation in 
Him against sin — as if He was only indulgent 
good nature as we sometimes find in ourselves. 
But we know there is such a thing as wrath in 
God, a righteous indignation becoming steadily 
and flaming forth terribly against sin. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 83 



Then we sometimes hear the wrath of God 
spoken of as if there was no love in Him for the 
creature He made in His own likeness, as if He 
was only exacting sternness such as we some- 
times find in ourselves. But we know God is 
love. He always seeks man's welfare. So He 
cannot indulge him in the sin that would ruin 
him. God, although He loves man, created in 
His likeness, is at variance with us because by 
our sin, we have arrayed His justice against us. 
How much does He love us. With such a great 
astonishing love, beyond comprehension, that He 
provides a representative for us who will satisfy 
His justice — He becomes our representative Him- 
self — He takes on our nature, suffers our punish- 
ment for us — becomes the God-man, our Savior. 

Man, although created in the likeness of God, 
is at variance with Him, is restive under His con- 
trol, disobeys His law, has more or less enmity 
in his heart against God. God comes closer to 
man — takes our nature upon Him — suffers for us 
the penalty we deserve. He so reveals His love 
for us to save that He does all possible to remove 
our distrust and dislike and win back our hearts 
to Him. 

When God becomes man to represent man in 
all his needs to secure a full supply of blessing 
for him He in that very act provides a repre- 
sentative of Himself to man to draw him into 
full allegiance with Himself. 

The representative of both parties, having this 
relationship with both parties becomes a real 



84 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



mediator, removing estrangement and replacing 
it with love. The estrangement of God to man 
exists solely in His just condemnation of man's 
sin; it is removed by having this justice satisfied. 
The estrangement of man to God consists solely 
in his dislike of God, the spirit of disobedience; 
it is removed by being replaced by the love of 
God awakened in him by God's love in the 
mediator. 

All we have to do is to trust our representa- 
tive, to acknowledge him as our representative 
so that we are in him and his acts are credited 
to us. 

The culmination of God's revelation of Him- 
self to man both in nature and in the Scriptures 
is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. In all nature 
and especially in man's nature we see the great 
power of representation and the principles in- 
volved in it and the great results flowing from 
it. In the Scriptures we see from the first 
promise of God to fallen man in the Garden of 
Eden — through the giving of the Law of God on 
Sinai — through the long history of God's people, 
through the worship of priests and sacrifices, 
through their need as voiced in Poetry and 
Oratory by psalmist and prophet, the culmination 
reached at length in the fulness of time in Him 
who is the son of man and the son of God, the 
Savior of mankind. 

The angel Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary, 
"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the 
power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 85 



wherefore also that which is to be born shall be 
called holy, the son of God." From Mary he 
took his human nature, a man born of a woman 
— but he was without sin since he was born of 
God — a divine being. As God created man at 
first in His own likeness — so this likeness is 
fully restored in the new man — Jesus Christ. He 
was tempted in all points like as we are but 
without sin. Through His whole life, the revela- 
tion of God in the sinless man — through His 
suffering and death on the Cross, His ressurec- 
tion from the dead and His ascension into heaven, 
we see His saving love and redeeming power. Our 
Lord Jesus Christ satisfies the claims of man's 
reason and the hopes of his heart and his 
highest possible thought of the nature of God. 
He is the great mediator. The law of man's 
being is fully realized in Christ. The King, 
Lawgiver, the Priest, the Prophet are all ful- 
filled in Him. As He comes from the great white 
throne to this dark earth of sin, beams of light 
from his glorious person break through our 
gloom with promise, with law written upon our 
hearts, with ceremony of Temple worship, with 
song of praise, with exhortation of holy life, 
with divine help, with aspiration of hope, with 
loving sacrifice on the cross, with power of the 
broken tomb, with full acceptance and glorious 
triumph in the return to the throne in heaven. 

If a citizen of our state should take the place 
of another citizen in suffering the penalty of 
violated law, we would be astonished at his love 



86 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



and call it a noble act. If the President of the 
nation should take the place of a citizen and 
suffer the penalty of violated law, the whole 
nation would be astonished at the love and con- 
descension of the splendid act. If a Saint from 
heaven should do this, the race itself would be 
filled with wonder. 

But none would have the right or power to 
substitute himself thus to save another. 

But the Infinite God takes the place of man 
His creature, and suffers the just penalty of his 
sin — as He has the right and the power to do. 
But who can conceive of the infinite condescen- 
sion — and the infinite love of this redeeming 
sacrifice. Let it appeal to our heart's love — 
break down all opposition to God our Father our 
Redeemer and bring us to Himself, to the Savior. 

The remaining Lord's Days of our Catechism 
set forth this truth of salvation in Christ fully. 

As we close this introduction portion of the 
Catechism, we have impressed upon us that its 
faithful consideration should result in a revival 
of religion. It presents so fully, so clearly, so 
impressively man's need as a sinner of a Divine 
Savior that all of us are at once thrown into 
two classes, and each class may well ask con- 
science a personal question of vast import. 

Those who have not yet sought personal salva- 
tion in Christ may each one ask, Do I need Him? 
You are a sinner in nature and by practice. 
There is no hope in yourself. You need Christ. 
There is no hope outside of Him. He is given 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 87 



you by the love of God, urged upon you by the 
love of God. Do not resist this appeal. Trust in 
Him, believe in the Savior. 

Those who are saved in Christ should be so 
impressed by the consideration of the lost con- 
dition of man that we should feel the deepest 
sense of obligation to Christ that He took com- 
passion upon us. And the deepest gratitude to 
Him for His salvation. He saved us from endless 
sin, from endless misery. He has given us 
eternal life in harmony with God, our obligation, 
our gratitude to Him should fill each soul, should 
be the spring of all conduct. 

The impulse of each saved soul should be to 
bring that salvation to all needy souls, to show 
Christ to others, an impulse to persuade all to 
believe in the Savior. 

A revival of religion, holiness, living close to 
Christ — showing Christ to all needy souls about 
them — those not yet believers seeing their need 
and coming to Christ for salvation — may such 
results follow our consideration of this part of 
the Catechism. 



I 



VII. 

TWENTY-THIRD LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH'' 



For the showing of his righteousness at 
this present season that he might himself 
be just and the justifier of him that hath 
faith in Jesus. — Rom. 3 :26. 

HERE are some Lord's Days of our Cate- 



chism that seem to stand out more strong- 



ly and distinctly than their fellows; that 
may be called red-letter days; this is one of 
them. It is the summing up of the Apostle's 
Creed. What is the result of your believing the 
creed is the question. The answer is astounding. 
That I am righteous before God. How can this 
be possible, when all men are sinners by nature 
and practice? The answer is as distinct and 
strong — I am righteous in Christ. 

Now we turn to our text — and it is a red-letter 
text in the Epistle to the Romans. It has just 
been said after a stern indictment of human 
nature of both Romans and Jews, that no man 
can be declared righteous before God on his own 
record and nature, for all have sin. The text 
then follows with the astounding statement that 
the righteousness of God is revealed, that He 




88 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 89 



might be just and the justifier of him that hath 
faith in Jesus; that is that God might be right- 
eous and account as righteous the one who hath 
faith in Jesus, God reveals his righteousness in 
Christ, that he may account as righteous the 
one believing in Christ. 

The answer of the Catechism gives us the 
experience of the believer, and it is in harmony 
with our text. 

In the next answer of the Catechism the be- 
liever tells us his condition by nature — describes 
clearly and fully the righteousness he possesses 
by the Grace of God, and then he describes the 
faith by which he becomes righteous before God. 
Now if any of us have this experience of the 
believer it will be well for us to review the 
grounds upon which it is based that it may be 
strengthened ; for it is not only a present posses- 
sion but one we may expect to carry with us 
through all the changing scenes of this life and 
to find fully realized when we enter the presence 
of Christ at the right hand of God in Heaven. 
Surely if any of us are conscious that we do not 
have this experience of the believer it will be 
well for us to consider its richness and fullness 
— its desirableness for us — and how we may 
obtain it. 

The believer frankly confesses that his con- 
science accuses him of having grossly trans- 
gressed all the commands of God, that he has 
kept none of them and that he is still inclined 
to all evil. Surely the righteous God can never 



90 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



account as righteous any one on his own record 
and nature who has such an accusing conscience, 
provided the accusation is at all true. How is 
it with ourselves? We know the law of God — 
the law of our being. Love God with all your 
mind, and heart, and soul, and strength. Have 
we never transgressed this law — have we always 
kept it — are we inclined to keep it? What says 
the conscience? The law of God says also: love 
your neighbor as yourself. This is love your- 
self, as the highly gifted responsible and de- 
pendent creature of God — as He would have you 
love yourself. Then love your neighbor always 
and in all respects in the same way and to the 
same extent as you love yourself. Have we 
never transgressed this law? Have we always 
kept it, are we inclined to keep it now? What 
says the conscience? 

I am free to confess to you my conscience 
accuses me. I cannot look it fairly in the face; 
it frowns upon me. It is well for us to face 
conscience frankly and fully on this question. 
We creatures of God on this little ball of the 
earth are under the reign of law — we cannot 
even conceive how such creatures can exist under 
any other condition. The earth itself has obeyed 
the law of its being — has turned us toward the 
sun and it is day. We have obeyed the law of 
our physical being — have slept during the night; 
have breathed the air, have taken food, have 
exercised our powers and have gathered in this 
place of worship. We thinking beings are now 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 91 



obeying the laws of our mental nature, and are 
considering the subject of vast importance. We 
moral beings have exercised our moral sense 
and have discerned the law of our moral being — 
love God supremely and thy neighbor as thyself. 
And now we are asking our conscience the judg- 
ing power of our moral nature to give its verdict 
upon the whole of our past life and upon our 
present character under this law. What says 
each conscience? Does our conscience commend 
us as righteous, or condemn us as unrighteous? 
Let us hold that single question before conscience 
— are we righteous — or unrighteous? What is 
the verdict? 

Let us avoid the various refuges guilty beings 
are prone to devise. Let us not try to excuse 
ourselves or to indulge the hope of bettering 
ourselves, or to think we can sacrifice ourselves 
or our possessions in any way or degree to right 
the wrongs of our record or of our present con- 
dition. Does conscience commend us as keeping 
the law of God, the highest and final law of 
our nature as moral beings? Does conscience 
condemn us as having transgressed this law and 
as prone to transgress it? What is its verdict? 
Clear, distinct, final it says, you are unrighteous. 
Having listened to conscience we may now take 
the case to a higher court. We may appeal to 
the bar of God, to the Judge of all the earth, 
to the great white Throne of Righteousness. 

We are liable at any moment to be called to 
the Bar of God, we have no claim upon a single 



92 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



hour of our life. It is surely the most important 
object man can desire, to be pronounced right- 
eous by God — and it is the most terrible thing 
man can dread, to be pronounced unrighteous by 
God. Let us in our thought anticipate our 
standing in the light streaming from the great 
white throne of righteousness. That light 
searches all our record — that light searches all 
our character. If conscience condemns us as 
unrighteous, surely God sees more clearly and 
fully than conscience and is more righteous than 
ever the most aroused and quickened conscience 
can possibly be — surely God condemns us as 
unrighteous. We may regard our conscience as 
having awakened to a clear and stern view of 
our record and character — to have condemned 
us as unrighteous — to have arrested us and to 
have brought us before the bar of the righteous 
God that we may know our true condition in 
His sight. And the result is terrible — we are con- 
demned as unrighteous. Looking upon our real 
condition, upon our record and character, it is 
absolutely impossible that the conscience, that 
God himself can pronounce any other verdict. 
It is absolutely true. We, all of us, are in 
ourselves unrighteous, and there is absolutely 
no hope, no prospect in ourselves of our ever 
becoming righteous. No hope that we can ever 
change the record of our past; no hope that we 
can reverse our present character; no hope that 
God can ever say of any single one of us — he 
has obeyed fully the law of his being — he now 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 93 



obeys fully the law of his being — no hope that a 
single one of us can ever say that of himself — or 
of herself. No hope that any one can ever say 
I always love God supremely and I love always 
my neighbor as myself — that is my record, that 
is my character, that is my assured status. No 
hope of pronouncing ourselves righteous, no hope 
of God pronouncing us righteous. It is well for 
us to clearly and fully face this truth. 

Now it is possible that facing it may seem to 
some to drive us to recklessness and despair. 
That surely would be the height of folly. We 
all recognize that while we seek absolute good, 
we are not as bad as we can be, that there is 
a large element of relative good still in us, for 
our moral sense can discern the perfection of the 
law of our being, can approve it and can desire 
to keep it. To become reckless would be to 
cast away all good in ourselves. Besides it is 
quite evident God has not cast us away — He still 
holds the law of our being before us, He has not 
lowered it to our conditions; He does not thus 
indulge us in sin. True there is much distress 
and misery in our present condition — and much 
of it we can easily trace to our breaking the law 
of love to God and man — we may regard it as 
the penalty of violated law, the frown of the 
law giver. There is also much good and happi- 
ness in our lot — much of it we can trace to the 
partial keeping of the law of love — and we may 
regard it as mercy of God. Surely God has not 
banished us from his presence. 



94 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



While there is no hope in our record and 
character, that we or God can regard us as 
righteous, there is still hope that God may so 
reveal His righteousness greater than our highest 
thought, that He may make us righteous. He has 
not lowered the law of our being — He has not 
removed his goodness from us. Nature within 
us and nature without us bid us not to be reck- 
less, not to despair. There is much in nature 
to lead us to fear that God may at length banish 
us from Himself, the source of all good, but there 
is also much in nature to lead us to hope that 
God will save us from our hopeless condition 
through His great righteousness. 

Let us listen to this teaching of nature con- 
cerning God the revelation of Himself in nature. 
There are three great truths of nature we all 
accept but whose importance in all their bearings 
it is hard for us to realize — First, we are reason- 
ing beings — this is one of our distinguishing 
characteristics. It is a wise couplet 

"The one who will not reason is a bigot 
"The one who dares not reason is a slave." 

God always honors man as a reasoning being. 
It is the general trend and calling of the Scrip- 
tures. He says to us all, "Come let us reason 
together" — and He says it on this very subject 
we are considering — "Though your sins be as 
scarlet they shall be as white as snow." 

Let us seek to be brave, fair reasoners on this 
most important subject — even reasoners with 
God. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 95 



The second great truth of nature is we are 
responsible beings. As reasoning, responsible 
beings we make laws — the conventions of society 
for the easy, safe and pleasant living of its mem- 
bers—and the laws of cities, states, and nations ; 
but we recognize that from insufficient knowl- 
edge and wrong ideals and motives, some of our 
laws may be defective. As we thus reason with 
God we can conceive that His laws are perfect, 
from His full knowledge and pure motives. 

Now we not only make laws, we administer 
them. We have public opinions of societies, we 
have mayors, governors, presidents. But here 
also from defective knowledge, wrong ideals, and 
wrong motives one administering law often is 
unequal and unjust. As we reason with God we 
conceive that His administering His laws from 
His full knowledge and pure motives is beyond 
our highest ideals — is absolutely perfect. 

Now we not only make and administer law 
but we have Judges and Juries — a judicial ele- 
ment to pronounce upon facts as to violations of 
our laws and to pronounce suitable penalties. 
Here also we recognize that from insufficient 
knowledge and wrong feelings, it is difficult for 
us to get at the facts and more difficult still to 
award just penalties. As we are reasoning with 
God we see from our defects how far short we 
fall of His perfectness, that as Judge He knows 
fully and feels rightly and judges justly. 

The third great truth of nature throws great 
light on our subject. In all our doings as reason- 



96 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



able, responsible beings with reference to mak- 
ing and enforcing law there is a principle in- 
volved which seems necessary and whose bearings 
in all directions it is hard for us to realize. It 
is hard to cover it with a single word for the 
word we use is so common that it has lost some 
of its greatness — the principle itself is so familiar 
that we do not recognize at once its great- 
ness, it is Representation. In making laws we 
have our representatives in the legislature; in 
administering laws our representative is governor 
or president. In the courts of law our repre- 
sentatives are jurors and judges. The people act 
by our representatives. They act in our stead. 
We are honored by their action. This seems 
essential in human nature. It runs through 
many of our most familiar and important rela- 
tions of life — family — business — social as well as 
legal. In this principle of representation there 
are two elements difficult to name because of 
their greatness and familiarity in our lives — 
these are Substitution and Suretyship. The presi- 
dent is in a deep real sense our Substitute. We 
are in a deep real sense his Sureties. Our presi- 
dent acts in our stead. We are sureties for him 
that his acts will be effective. So our legislative 
and judicial representatives act in our stead and 
we are sureties to make their act effective — so 
in the family — parents and children — in busi- 
ness, in contracts, in employment, in society, rich 
and poor, learned and unlearned, high and low; 
as well as in legal relations, representation 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 97 



prevails with its two elements, substitution and 
suretyship. So we, reasoning, responsible beings, 
are reasoning with our God as He calls us to do, 
our nature itself begins to give us a glimmer 
of hope, that suretyship and substitution so 
prominent in our nature may be a faint reflec- 
tion of the perfect character of God. That repre- 
sentation so prominent in our lives but so hamp- 
ered by our lack of knowledge and by our impure 
ideals and motives may live more prominent even 
in the nature of our God and find an exercise 
toward us made perfect by the infinite knowl- 
edge, wisdom, resources and purity of God. 

Of course suretyship and substitution have dif- 
ferent degrees and values among us. Some- 
times they affect only property and reputation. 
Sometimes they affect life itself. A father pays 
the debts of a wayward son and gives him a 
new start; a mother nurses her boy diseased by 
sinful ways back to health and virtue, wearing 
out her own life. There have been cases where 
substitution has been allowed in war. A man 
was drafted ; he must leave his wife and children 
and go into the army. But a friend takes his 
place and dies in battle in his stead. Napoleon 
is said to have visited the tent of a favorite 
officer and he found him in a troubled sleep, 
while on his table was a list of his debts so over- 
whelming that he had written under it the 
words: "Whoever can, whoever will, pay these 
debts." The Emperor simply wrote under these 
words his name: "Napoleon." When the officer 



98 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



awoke and saw that name his troubles all 
vanished away — and the loyalty to the Emperor 
was doubled. 

Charles Dickens often strikes deep chords in 
human nature. In the "Tale of Two Cities." 
The English lawyer Carlton strongly resembled 
the French Aristocrat Darney — he takes his place 
in prison in Paris — Darney with his wife and 
children escape to London. Carlton dies in his 
stead upon the guillotine. The story is true to 
nature in that ever after in the saved London 
home the memory of Carlton is sacred and 
precious. The story is also true to nature in 
that Carlton in riding to the guillotine cheers 
the heart of a young girl riding with him to 
her death. And so cheers his own heart also 
by repeating the words of the Great Substitute: 
"I am the resurrection and the life. He that 
liveth in Me, though he dies yet shall he live 
and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall 
never die." So the whispers of our nature lead 
to the plain clear words of Scripture. The 
revelation of God in nature is to the revelation 
of God in the Gospel as the dawn is to the full 
shining of the sun at noon-day. Our text says 
the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gos- 
pel that he might be righteous and account as 
righteous the one believing in Jesus. Our studies 
of the Apostle's Creed have taught us something 
of the glory of the Person and Work of Christ. 
He reveals God to us, represents God to us as 
His well beloved Son. So revealing God He takes 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 99 



upon Himself our nature, becomes a man under 
the law of our being. As such He represents us 
to God. He keeps the law of our being per- 
fectly. He deserves all the results of such abso- 
lute righteousness ; and He is more than man the 
infinite son of God; there is infinite worth in 
His absolute sinlessness, His perfect obedience, 
and He is our representative. 

So He suffers for sin, not that He deserves such 
suffering in the faintest degree. He even dies 
for sinners, not that He in Himself deserves death 
at all — He dies as our representative — our sub- 
stitute — and His suffering and death are of in- 
finite worth since He is the infinite Son of God. 
Christ Himself says: "The Son of Man came to 
give His life a ransom for many." — and again 
He says : "My body is broken for you — My blood 
shed for you for the remission of sins." Christ 
Himself says both of His representation of God 
and of His representation of man in that wonder- 
ful saying containing the whole Gospel: "God 
so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten 
Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
perish but have eternal life." So the believer 
says in our Lord's Day of the Catechism, "In 
myself I deserve to perish I deserve to perish, 
but believing in Christ I have eternal life. In 
myself, my record, my character I am pronounced 
by my conscience — my God the Judge— unright- 
eous — I perish— but in Christ, in the perfect 
satisfaction righteousness and holiness of Christ 
I am accounted righteous even as if I never had 



100 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



any sin. Even as if I had fully accomplished 
all righteousness I am an heir of eternal life 
God gives me all this not for any merit of my 
own, but of His pure grace." 

He maintains His holy law, the law of my 
being — in that He keeps it Himself in the person 
of His Son and He deserves all the benefits that 
come from perfect obedience and these He be- 
stowes on me. He inflicts also all the penalty 
of broken law and bears it all Himself in the 
person of His Son — that which I deserve He bears 
for me. Now He accounts me as righteous, freed 
from all penalty, entitled to all blessedness 
because I am in my representative. I trust in 
Christ, I receive by faith the gift of God's grace, 
Christ is my surety, Christ is my substitute, 
Christ is my representative — . All that He is, 
all that He has borne, all that He deserves is 
mine. I could never claim my title to heaven 
in myself. But I have a complete and full title 
to heaven in my representative, the glorious son 
of God and son of man, my Lord and Savior 
Jesus Christ. 

The believer having this blessed experience 
that he is righteous in Christ, freed from all 
penalty, entitled to rewards in Christ is careful 
to disclaim all merit of his own, the merit all 
belongs to Christ. There is no merit even in the 
faith that rests in Christ. He simply believes in 
Christ as revealed in the record of His life on 
earth and as He now reigns in Heaven — he has 
some insight into His nature from his own nature 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 101 



that is capable of considering and acting for 
others. He has a full trust in Christ acting for 
him, representing him — and so he is impelled 
to live in and for Christ — he has all these ele- 
ments of a saving faith. But there is no merit 
in faith itself. Its' the hand that receives God's 
grace, the faith does not merit the salvation. 
Christ alone saves and He saves all together. We 
see the north star in the clear heavens and learn 
a little about it — a blazing sun so distant that 
light in its rapid flight takes many years to 
reach us. But our seeing the star is no part of 
the star, if the clouds hide it, if we shut our 
eyes, or if we refuse to look toward it the 
star would still be the same. We look and we 
simply see it shining upon us. So Christ is the 
infinite Savior. We look and He shines upon us, 
we trust and he saves us. The next Lord's Day 
of the Catechism will tell us about the source and 
value of our own good works, the renovation of 
our nature following from Christ redeeming life 
and death. We will leave that to be considered 
later. 

Now as in thought we anticipate again our 
standing before the great white throne of the 
righteous God our conscience is fully satisfied 
since we do not stand in our own character and 
record, but in our representative alone. We 
know God will declare us righteous in Christ, 
freed from all penalty since He has borne it for 
us, entitled even to the eternal life in Heaven 
since He has deserved it for us, righteous in 



102 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Christ since we believe in Him. Among the many 
things the future contains for us of which we 
can only conjecture there is one thing certain. 
We shall all stand at last before the great white 
throne. Whatever courses our lives may take 
we are all moving steadily toward that throne. 
Shall we stand there condemned or justified? 
Condemned surely if we stand in ourselves. 
Justified surely if we stand in our representative, 
Christ. Each one of us must stand before that 
throne someday, we know not how soon. Shall 
it be only in our own merit, our record, our 
character, or in Christ? Believe in the Lord 
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. 



VIII. 



TWENTY-FOURTH LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 

"JUSTIFICATION BY AND OF FAITH" 

Ye see that by works a man is justified 
and not only by faith. — James 2:24. 

IT is one of the marvels of language how the 
change of a little word between two great 
words brings our thought under a different 
horizon — almost into a different universe. What 
little words are by and of — what widely different 
truths are justification by faith and justification 
of faith. The Epistle to the Romans is held by 
many to set forth this first, that of James to set 
forth the second; but in reality both truths are 
in all the Epistles as realizing together the whole 
Gospel. 

In the Last Lord's Day of our Catechism we 
considered justification by faith; in this Lord's 
Day we are to consider justification of faith. 

It is well for us to seek a clear and concise 
description of both in order to illumine the soul 
in all the varied experiences of life — and to be 
fixed in the memory forever. Justification by 
faith we remember is our being pronounced 
righteous by God the Judge on account of the 
righteousness of Christ in whom we have faith. 

103 



104 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



If we are righteous, then the law of our being 
has nothing against us. More than that we are 
entitled to all the rewards of obedience to that 
law. We saw that this was absolutely impossible 
on our own record and character. It could only 
be conceived of as secured to us by a representa- 
tive of such glorious majesty and such absolute 
righteousness that the results of His substitution 
and suretyship could be made ours by the right- 
eous Judge. Character we know cannot be trans- 
ferred from one person to another, but the 
results of character and life can be and are so 
transferred in all the relationships of our lives. 
Children have the results of the reputation and 
standing of parents. Citizens are bound by the 
characteristics and acts of their representatives. 
From such experiences we can see how the right- 
eous Judge can say of the one having faith in 
Christ, he is righteous in Christ; he is entitled to 
all the results of Christ's righteousness. 

In himself, he deserves death, the penalty of 
sin — but Christ has suffered and died for him, 
has fully satisfied all claims of the law against 
him, and through His perfect keeping of the law 
Christ has merited all the rewards of such obedi- 
ence for him, even of eternal life. When we 
consider who Christ is, the Son of God given to 
us of the Father's love — who for love of us 
became man and lived for us — and suffered and 
died for us, we begin to see the greatness of our 
representative, and the infinite worth of His life 
and death, and that it is of infinite Grace of 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 105 



God that we have the results of His substitution 
and suretyship, that nothing of our own can in 
any way enter into our being pronounced right- 
eous by God the Judge — it is only and solely 
because we are in Christ our representative and 
we are in Him only by faith; there is no value 
in our faith; it is simply receiving Him as our 
representative. He alone has borne our curse — 
and has merited our eternal life. Nothing of ours 
can possibly become a part of our justification. 
Christ is the representative. His work is com- 
plete. He has borne the curse due us. He has 
given us the title to heaven. We are as if we 
never sinned, as if we had always been righteous 
— as if we were now entirely righteous. 

God the Judge declares the believer righteous 
in Christ: 

If any one of us seeks to in any way contribute 
to his own justification he is sure to fail. He 
will not be able to satisfy his own conscience 
much less the righteous God. The only righteous- 
ness that can stand before the righteous Judge 
must be perfect — and this alone is in Christ. 
He is our representative. If any one of us will 
simply accept God's gracious gift, will simply 
receive Christ as our representative, then we 
have the promise of God "Whosoever will may 
come — and whosoever believeth on Him shall not 
perish but have everlasting life." 

This is justification by faith. God the Judge 
declares the believer in Christ righteous in Him. 



106 THE KLiDELBERG CATECHISM 



Entitled to all the results of Christ atoning death 
and perfect life. 

Now let us turn to the justification of faith. 
There is such a thing as a dead faith contrasted 
with a living faith. James says Faith without 
works is dead. Faith is justified by works. 
Years ago one believed the Island of Cuba existed, 
was rich and beautiful and was struggling for 
its freedom. The faith enlarged knowledge but 
worked no change in living, in character. Another 
believed in the existence of the Island, in all its 
richness and beauty and became so interested in 
its struggle for freedom that he left his own 
land and enlisted in that struggle — that faith 
worked a change in his manner of life and 
character. So many believe in God, in Christ the 
Son of God, in His atoning work even, have an 
orthodox faith enlarging their knowledge, but it 
has no effect upon their character — it is without 
works, it is a dead faith. Others have not only 
this intellectual faith — may indeed have far less 
knowledge — but they trust Christ the Savior 
and follow Him in loving obedience; they have a 
living faith; their life, their work form a 
justification of their faith. As they grow in 
appreciation of Christ they grow in His likeness. 
Now as the Island of Cuba was the same Island 
for both kinds of faith so Christ is the same 
Christ for both kinds, His life and His death are 
unchanged in their value of our faith. 

It is evident that the living faith is no part of 
the righteousness of Christ, it simply receives 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 107 



the gift of Christ, trusts Him as our substitute, 
our representative. 

In our human nature there are two things 
involved in any offered gift — it may be very 
valuable in itself, but we may even when we 
recognize its value reject it — or we may accept 
it. So in our nature there are two things in- 
volved in accepting a gift — we despise a man 
who does not have some little at any rate of 
both. One is some appreciation of the gift- 
some desire for it, the other is some gratitude 
to the giver. 

It is so with the gracious gift of Jesus Christ, 
We may reject Him, even when we see something 
of His value — or we may accept Him. 

When we accept Him as our representative, 
we must have some little appreciation of Him, 
some desire for Him. This may be very strong 
or of less degree — but it must exist. We recog- 
nize our need of Him, that we cannot be justified 
in ourselves, that we are guilty sinners under 
the condemnation of the law — that only in Him 
can we be justified. The sense of sin, its power, 
its guilt varies in degrees and clearness, but is 
always enough to lead the believer to value 
Christ as atoning for sin, and as bestowing life. 
So with gratitude to God, for the gift of Christ, 
to Christ for His love that led Him to die that 
we might live, it may vary in degree, but surely 
we cannot conceive of receiving Christ and hav- 
ing no gratitude to Him. 



108 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



The more we recognize the glorious gift of 
God, the more we recognize the glory of our 
representative, the son of God, the son of Man, 
become there in the representative of God and 
of man, revealing God to us, and representing a 
sinful race to God, the more we recognize the 
glory of our representative in living for us, in 
dying for us, the more we must appreciate the 
gift of righteousness in Him — the more we must 
have gratitude to Him. The Apostle Paul says, 
"God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ,' , and adds, "by whom 
the world is crucified to me and I unto the 
world." 

The glory of God shines in creation — the 
heavens declare His glory. He makes men in His 
own likeness, but the glory of the Cross excels 
all else, reveals His holiness and His love for a 
sinful race to redeem from sin by the sacrifice 
of Himself. In the Cross His righteousness is 
revealed and His justice manifested — His holiness 
shines forth, His love conquers; He takes the 
sinner's place, living for him, dying for him — 
the Glorious Representative. 

The Cross becomes the only ground of our 
justification and so also effectually separates the 
believer from the power of sin, "the world is 
crucified unto Him and He unto the world." 

We cannot compare justification by faith and 
justification of faith, one is a change of condi- 
tion, the other is a change of character. They 
always co-exist. We separate the two in our 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 109 



limited thought; they do not separate in God's 
thought, they are not separate in reality. Justi- 
fication by faith is a change of condition, it is 
instantaneous, it is complete, it is like crossing 
a line — one instant on this side, the next on the 
other side. 

One instant the man is in himself condemned 
as a sinner, in his own conscience and in God's 
sight. The next instant he is justified in Christ 
in his own conscience, in God's sight. The one 
instant he stands before conscience, before God 
in himself, relying on his own record and 
character. The next instant he stands before 
conscience, before God, in his representative, 
relying on Christ's record and character. God 
the Judge pronounces him in himself unright- 
eous, and conscience says it is true. God the 
Judge pronounces him righteous in Christ and 
conscience says, "by thy grace it is true. I 
trust in Christ alone. I renounce all other con- 
fidence. I trust in my representative." 

By this trust by the Grace of God — through 
the life of Christ a change in character is begun, 
to grow in various ways throughout this life and 
to culminate in the life to come — a turning from 
sin — the worldly principle of living, unto Christ 
living and likeness. Graciously Christ himself 
says — "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if 
any man hear my voice and open the door I will 
come unto him and will sup with him and he 
with me." Christ does not dwell in a condemned 
soul— He dwells in a soul He has already re- 



110 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



deemed, giving the new life of fellowship with 
Him. The man was condemned to death in him- 
self, in Christ he is awarded eternal life — and 
Christ dwells within him, the hope of glory. 
Christ dwells within the believer pronounced 
righteous before the law — the condition of justi- 
fication by faith is at once complete. The in- 
dwelling Christ purifies from corruption and 
establishes holiness, His indwelling thus working 
through the faith accepting Him and grateful to 
Him a change of character to be completed in His 
own good way and time. 

The Apostle John in his first Epistle shows 
the relation of Christ to the believer in both 
respects. He says Christ the sinless one was 
manifested to take away sin — to take away its 
guilt, its desert of punishment, to take away its 
power, its corruption of our nature. He goes 
on to say particularly of this last relation — "he 
that sees Christ, that knows Him, that abides in 
Him, sinneth not." Through all degrees of these 
three acts of course, but the one who has all 
three has the direction of his life externally 
changed, he is turning from sin toward right- 
eousness, toward Christ likeness. It is the last 
abiding in Christ — that shares his life. We may 
see Christ as revealed in the Gospels — may even 
believe in His living today and His presence 
everywhere — it enlarges our knowledge and stops 
there. We may even know Christ as so revealed 
and so present — may have some quality in us 
that appreciates qualities in Him — as His good- 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 111 



ness, His self-sacrifices — for it is only in this 
way that one person knows another — this in 
highest degree leads to abiding in Him, but if 
it does not reach such degree it simply adds to 
our knowledge, and stops there. 

If we still are controlled by sin — we show we 
have only this dead faith. It may be near life, 
have some promise of life, as John says — "but 
it is dead, whosoever sinneth hath not seen 
Christ, neither knoweth Him." But if the seeing 
Christ, if the knowing Christ goeth on into 
abiding in Him — as the branch abideth in the 
vine,, it shares His life. We see Christ, we know 
Christ personal appreciation of Him, we do more, 
we trust Him as our Savior, we live in Him. 

Christ enters and dwells in the soul — and the 
soul enters and dwells in Christ. It is a living 
faith — a vital relationship. Christ by His spirit 
dwells in us. We by our faith dwell in Him. 

Such a vital relation has a large element of 
mystery in it. Who can understand life in its 
lowest form? How can we understand it — in its 
highest form. 

Perhaps electricity may afford a vague illus- 
tration. Have you ever watched the process of 
electro-plating? There is a large tank of what 
seems pure water — it is an acid liquid. In one 
end of the tank hanging from a wire is a pitcher 
of dull metal — in the other end hanging also 
by a wire is a bar of solid silver. Now, these 
two wires are attached to the opposite poles of 
an electric battery. 



112 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



We look at the acid water in the tank — there 
is no motion — no disturbance. Now look at the 
dull metal pitcher — it begins to shine more and 
more until it is a silver pitcher. A mystery of 
electricity is going on. But after all it does not 
change the dull metal pitcher, only coats it with 
silver. The mystery of life is greater, it changes 
the very nature within ; it is no longer controlled 
by sin but by righteousness. 

The only question now is, does it work, or is 
this only a theory. We know it works. Take 
the disciples. They were fallible men — made 
mistakes, were tempted by sin. But at once when 
these sins were recognized they repented and 
never again walked in that direction. John, 
Peter, Paul — would it have been possible to have 
led either into a known way of sin and to have 
kept him in that way. We know it would not 
have been possible. The old principle of living 
has been replaced by a new one — the Christ life 
in them. They would live in Christ by faith 
and so more and more like Christ. It is said of 
Chrysostom, the golden mouthed orator that an 
Emperor desired to injure him and called together 
his wise counsellors to devise a way. One said 
confiscate his property. No, said the emperor, 
that will not injure him, but it will injure the 
poor he is constantly helping. Another said, 
banish him. No, said the emperor, that will not 
injure him — for he will make friends wherever 
he goes and God will be with him. Another 
wise counsellor said, kill him. No, said the 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 113 



emperor — that will not injure him — that will 
send him direct to heaven. Then the wisest of 
all said, Lead him into a course of sin. Yes, 
said the emperor, that will injure him. But 
here they failed, for with all their wisdom they 
could not devise a way to lead Chrysostom into 
a course of sin. 

It is so today with the true believer in Christ. 
To the degree in which he abides in Christ he 
will live like Christ, in the family, in all business 
relations, in all social relations, in the Church, 
he will abound in good works. Good works are 
those prompted and described by God's law, love 
of God supremely, for one's self as the creature 
of God and love for our fellow-man of the same 
kind and degree as love for ourselves. The whole 
tenor of life is changed, it was against the law, 
it is now for the law. 

Still we cannot think of these good works 
receiving a reward of their own worth in each 
believer for two reasons — first, they are not per- 
fect — our sinful nature is being dethroned, but 
it tinges our best works with imperfection. And 
in the second place, the credit for our good works 
belongs solely to Him our Savior who by His Holy 
Spirit implants His life in us. There are many 
temptations and trials incident to the life of a 
believer in Christ and one is sometimes be- 
wildered by their greatness — and that the heavi- 
est may come from belonging to Christ, as Paul 
in Prison — and at length beheaded. 

Where one is jutified by faith, pronounced 



114 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



righteous by the Judge — when one's faith is 
justified, receiving the new life in Christ, why do 
not trial and temptation cease, why not be taken 
out of this sinful world at once to the heaven 
of blessedness. Two answers at once arise. For 
the sake of the sinful world. So that Christ's 
Gospel may be preached by the believer in Christ 
by the words of persuasion and by the life of 
commendation. 

Another may be dimly seen in the evident fact 
that many virtues found in highest degree in 
heaven could never have been formed or cultivated 
there. It is so even with many virtues and graces 
of our blessed Lord Himself. Well may the angels 
desire to look upon the mysteries of His redeem- 
ing love for sinners. So with those He has re- 
deemed and gathered around His throne of glory. 
In heaven there can be no virtue formed by 
resisting temptation for temptation cannot exist 
there; there can be no patience in trial for trial 
cannot enter there — so faith in darkness, long 
suffering from evil conditions, endurance in 
adversity. What a host of virtues when we 
come to think of it can be cultivated only in 
this sinful world. Let us not murmur at our lot, 
but rejoice that we are honored with commend- 
ing the Gospel to a sinful world and that Christ 
our Lord is faithful to our best interests in the 
trials He is leading us through to the heavenly 
life. They may be very severe even to the last, 
but He loves us too wisely to make them shorter 
or less trying. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 115 



It is said that the Emperor Moth is the most 
beautiful of all the butterfly family; it has long 
wings most brilliantly colored. Now the Emperor 
Moth has a great struggle when it breaks forth 
from the cocoon stage. You watch it in the 
struggle and touched with pity you try to help 
it, with a sharp knife you cut the strong threads 
— and it comes forth quickly and easily, and flies 
away. But I thought you said it had large 
wings— they are small. You said the wings were 
brilliantly colored — these are dull. Yes, there is 
the trouble; the wings were to be developed in 
size and their fine colors were to be brought out 
by the great struggle in breaking forth from 
the cocoon. You were not wise for by your 
pity in freeing the poor worm from the struggle, 
you have spoiled the whole life of the butterfly. 
We may pray in all our struggles for strength, 
even for relief if you will but it should be in 
the faith of Christ. "Thy Will be done ,, — as 
He prayed in His great trial — and so became the 
triumphant Savior. 

Christ's sympathy for us will we are sure be 
wise as well as kind. He designs the very best 
for each one of us in the heavenly and eternal 
life. 

When we reach heaven at last, when we awake 
in His likeness, we will ascribe to Him all the 
praise. He died for us. He lived for us. He 
lived in us — He brought us to heaven. All the 
praise — all the glory belongs to Him. Not with 



116 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



us. Not unto us. Not unto us, but unto the 
God of our salvation be all the praise. 

Trial and temptation do not cease, it is through 
meeting these in the spirit of Christ that the 
Christian virtues are developed — grow not only 
for the Heavenly life and service as well for the 
advancing the kingdom of heaven on the earth. 
To be a Christian is not only to be justified by 
God as in Christ but being in Christ as the 
source of new life to live like Christ. The justi- 
fication by faith results in the justification of 
faith — in God's sight — in the sight of conscience, 
in man's sight. The Christian to the degree of 
his faith in Christ lives in his home as Christ 
would live. If he is an employer of labor he 
treats the laborer as Christ would treat him. If 
he is an employee, he treats his work as Christ 
would do. If he is a member of the Board of 
Directors of a great corporation, his influence is 
Christlike, to the degree of his faith in Christ. 
If he is in political office or management — he to 
the degree of his faith is Christlike. So at 
large the Christian Church to the degree of its 
faith is like Christ in doing good to the commu- 
nity and to the world. So civilization is Chris- 
tian only to the extent of its living like Christ, 
that virtually is the extent of the influence on 
public opinion of true believers who live like 
Christ. 



IX. 



TWENTY-FIFTH LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"SOURCE OF FAITH" 

By grace have ye been saved through 

faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the 

gift of God not of works that no man 
should glory. — Eph. 2:8, 9. 

IN our studies of the Apostle's Creed, we have 
already paid some attention to the articles 
concerning the Church and the Communion 
of Saints. This, and several following Lord's 
Days of our Catechism treat with greater elabo- 
ration of the life, the methods and the aims of 
the Christian Church. When Christ said : "Upon 
this rock I will build my Church," we understand 
He referred to the confession of faith in Him, as 
the Christ, the Son of God. It is quite true to 
our human nature that those having such a faith 
should group themselves together in a special 
organization. Christ, the object of this faith, 
who thus groups believers together and is their 
head, has given His Church two significant rites : 
Baptism, the rite of entrance — and The Lord's 
Supper, the rite of maintenance. He has also 
prescribed certain principles for the government 
of the Church and has given His Church a 

117 



118 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



special work to do in the world. It is of these 
subjects, these few Lord's Days of the Catechism 
treat with some elaboration. Of Faith in its 
source — of the nature and use of the Sacraments 
— of the government of the Church and of the 
spirit of grateful life service. 

The Epistle to the Ephesians may well be 
called the Epistle of the glory of the Church of 
Christ. It shows that God has exalted Christ 
to be the Head of the Church — and the Ephesians 
who were without God in the world are now of 
the household of God and are growing into a 
holy temple for the habitation of God by the 
Spirit. They were dead in trespasses and thus 
they were afar off and had no hope. Now they 
are made nigh in the blood of Christ. God hath 
raised them up and made them sit in Heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus. God shows in the years 
to come the exceeding riches of His grace in 
kindness toward Paul, the writer, toward the 
Ephesians, towards us in this far off land and 
age, in Christ Jesus. 

Paul speaks to his and to their experience and 
to our's as well when he uses the text, "By grace 
have ye been saved through faith — and that not 
of yourselves, the Gift of God." We thus can easily 
see the glory of the Church is being saved loy 
grace and showing this grace to all the ages — 
saved by grace and proclaiming to the world 
salvation by the grace of God in Christ. 

Our Lord's Day of the Catechism has taught 
the spirit of the text. Whence is the faith that 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 119 



makes us partakers of Christ's salvation, it asks 
— and this answer is prompt and clear: "The 
Holy Ghost works faith in our hearts by the 
preaching of the Gospel and confirms it by the 
use of the Sacraments." The text says salvation 
is by grace through faith, the gift of God — and 
the Catechism shows how the Holy Ghost works 
faith in our hearts. 

Our natural pride of heart is apt to exaggerate 
and misconstrue the statement of the Scripture, 
"that faith is the gift of God" into the conclusion 
that faith is a new power of the soul that 
others do not have and that this new power 
separating a few from the whole race of man- 
kind, is given to the selected few by the sovereign 
choice of God. 

The Catechism guards us against this spiritual 
pride by showing how the Holy Ghost works 
faith in us by the preaching of the Gospel and 
the use of the Sacraments. The nature and use 
of the Sacraments are so fully treated in the next 
Lord's Days that we need only to glance at them 
now. Christ, the head of the Church, instituted 
them. He selected the most simple things known 
among men — washing with water and eating 
bread. He made these significant of washing the 
spiritual nature, the soul, and feeding the soul 
with Himself. He associated with these simple 
acts His promise of full salvation. As the Cate- 
chism teaches, "by the use of these He more fully 
declares and seals to us the promise of the Gos- 
pel." The whole idea of Christ seems to make 



120 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



clear and sure by the most simply acts His 
saving grace as received and applied to the needy 
soul. Again the natural pride of the human 
heart has clustered around these simple rites 
of initiation into the Christian Church and es- 
pecially of the maintenance of the Christian life 
a number of mysteries and even magical influ- 
ences calculated to centre faith in them as 
channels of the sovereign choice and powers of 
God. Even the word "Sacrament" we use con- 
cerning them is of our own selection and has 
some meanings evidently foreign to the simple 
teachings of our Lord. 

Leaving the further consideration of the Sacra- 
ments to the coming Lord's Days, let us now 
consider "Faith as the gift of God," and how 
the Holy Ghost works faith in our hearts — how 
we are saved by grace, and what is the purpose 
of the Christian Church; the mission Christ has 
given His Church to do in the world. 

If you ask, "How did these Ephesians become 
Christians?" the answer is, "The Gospel was 
preached to them." Christ had lived and died 
in Judea. He rose from the dead and was living 
at the right hand of God, His work of salvation 
fully accepted. Men believing this Gospel had 
traveled as far as Ephesus and there preached 
it to all whom they could reach, and they lived 
it before men. Some who heard had been so 
impressed by the message and the life of the 
believers, that they, too, believed, and these be- 
lievers formed the Church at Ephesus — they 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 121 



were grouped together by this belief, and they 
used the Sacraments to make more clear and 
more sure their belief in Christ. 

But there were some in Ephesus who did not 
hear the preaching of the gospel, and there were 
some who heard so carelessly or with such oppo- 
sition that they did not believe in Christ. With 
reference to the first class, the fact that they did 
not hear is to be attributed to the providence of 
God in the use of means, that is it is due to the 
small number comparatively of the believers 
preaching the Gospel and to their inability or 
inefficiency to preach to all the Ephesians. With 
reference to the second class, those who hearing 
and from carelessness or opposition did not be- 
lieve, was that to be attributed to the sovereignty 
of God in not bestowing upon these the gift of 
faith- — was it because they could not believe — 
were destitute of the power of faith? Did those 
who believed have a new power given them by 
the sovereign choice of God, and did they believe 
from that reason that they could, had the power 
to believe, while the others had no such power 
and so could not believe? 

The asking of this question of those living in 
that far off place and age makes the question 
itself very clear; but the conditions are exactly 
the same today with us in this Christian land — 
and in heathen lands. Only with reference to the 
answer to be given to it, we have a more full 
understanding of the nature and character of 
God and of the special work of the Holy Ghost 



122 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



from the whole Bible and from the history of 
the Church and of the world from Bible times — 
and also we have a large and more intimate 
knowledge of nature itself and especially of our 
own spiritual nature. As we ask the question of 
the Ephesians, they give no answer. As we ask 
the question of the Bible and of ourselves, the 
answer becomes quite clear. 

Man as man, the creature of God, has the 
power of faith. However weak or depraved the 
living man may be, he has the power of faith 
in its four essential elements — he believes in the 
existence of anything on sufficient evidence; he 
has an insight in qualities found in persons and 
so believes in them ; he has the power of trusting 
his interests in the hands of persons and so has 
faith in them — he has the power of directing his 
life to persons and causes by his faith in them. 
We have already in this Lord's Day, treating of 
the "I believe in" of the Apostle's Creed, con- 
sidered these powers of faith. Whenever a being 
in the form of man is found without this power 
of faith, in any single one of its four elements, 
we count him as demented; as mentally and 
morally deficient. 

If we ask further, is there essential difference 
in this faith, as it is directed toward man or 
toward God, we must recognize that it is only 
in the matter of direction and that this is only in 
the matter of degree. There may be aversion to 
believe, to insight, to trust, to a principle of 
action toward man, and this may exist also 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 123 



toward God. But a man's aversion to a thing 
or a person does not destroy his freedom of 
choice. A patient may be horribly averse to a 
physician and to the medicines he prescribes, 
yet he may trust him and take it or not, as he 
pleases, and his life may depend on his choice. 
Faith is always the act of a man. Of its essence 
it must be voluntary. God does not believe for 
us. The Holy Ghost does not force us to 
believe : that would not be our act at all, it would 
be His alone. 

The text says, "Faith is the gift of God." The 
Catechism says the Holy Ghost works faith in 
our hearts. When we ask the question, "How 
does God work?" we recognize the question is 
essential to our mental life; that we would not 
be thinking beings if we did not ask it. And 
we also recognize that we are learners under 
the Great Teacher, children at school, and that 
He is pleased when we learn of Him. Surely we 
are being taught by God himself when we look 
out upon nature about us — when we look into 
our own natures, and when we try to read aright 
the teachings of Prophets and Apostles, and 
especially when we listen to the teachings of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

We live in a day when science has discovered 
many truths in nature and when it is now in- 
tently studying the powers of the soul of man. 
It asks this question of origin. It has studied 
the material universe — the mineral kingdom, and 
it goes back through the various phenomenal 



124 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



elements to the atom — farther back still to the 
constituents of the atom of each element, the 
positive electron of its nucleus around which 
revolves the negative electrons. These various 
electrons resist and attract, repel and combine, 
they have the power we call force, which rules 
in the sweep of the constellations of blazing suns 
and in the formation of our earth and its move- 
ments about our little sun. Whence the atom 
and its wonderful powers and laws? We ask, 
and science can only answer — God. We look out 
upon the earth covered with vegetation and teem- 
ing with life in waters, and air and on land. 
Whence this life, of lowest order, of ascending 
grades? We ask and science can only answer — 
God. We have investigated thoroughly. We find 
it does not come from dead matter — plant life 
only comes from a seed — animal life only comes 
from animal life. We go back and back and 
back. Life only comes from the Life Giver — the 
God who made the atom — He also made the plant 
and the animal. 

Now we come to ourselves: beings who have 
intellect, who can read the thoughts of God in 
nature, beings who have personality with all its 
wonderful powers and kinships, who can think 
and feel and choose — who are moral persons 
knowing the distinctions of right and wrong, and 
having a choice of one or the other. Whence this 
being? We ask— science answers from God, the 
Person, not from the Material Atom, not from 
the senseless vegetations, not from the imper- 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 125 



sonal, unmoral animal — Man can only come from 
God. So this highly gifted being, the being hav- 
ing faith, believing on evidence, having insight 
of personal qualities, trusting persons, control- 
ling himself by faith, thinking with all his 
powers, is the creature of God. 

Wonderful powers of faith, but man should 
not be proud — he has not made it by his own 
action. Faith itself is the gift of God. Still 
the question arises — this faith in its highest 
reach, which distinguishes the spiritual from 
the material man, which is not limited to the 
present order of persons and things, of sense 
and times, which reaches into the high sphere of 
persons and things unseen and eternal. Whence 
this faith? Again science can only answer — 
God. But now we see a wonderful law of God's 
working, the answer nature gives to the question 
of the mind, of how God gives faith. In all 
the wonderful process of creative powers from 
the original atom to the loftiest man, each grade 
of the upward process is based upon the lower. 
The vegetable seed of life comes from the Life 
Giver, not from the dead matter; but it draws 
into its new power the properties of the matter. 
It is not independent of or separated from the 
electron and its force, but takes it up into new 
combinations. So animal life is based upon 
the material creation and the vegetable life. It 
breathes the air, treads the earth and lives upon 
its growth. So man while having powers above 
the animal, while he is from the Great Person, 



126 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



God, and having powers of personality, in like- 
ness of God, still he is based upon and dependent 
upon the animal, up grade after grade upon the 
atom. We see that God gives life, and also we 
have a glimpse of how He gives it. He does not 
throw away his prior rights, but adds to them. 
He gives life in all its grades; but this gift in 
its application is related to and takes up into 
itself the nature upon which it is based and with 
which it grows. 

So in His greatest gift of Eternal Life, God 
is the Life Giver — He gives His life in His Son, 
who takes upon Himself our nature — lives for 
us, dies for us, appeals to us, lives in us. When 
we ask, "How does God work faith in us" — the 
answer nature and the Bible both give is that 
God ever works constructively. He begins, car- 
ries on, and completes His work. Not by casting 
aside, by destroying, but by keeping and adding. 
That much abused and much misunderstood and 
opposed word "evolution" becomes of large sig- 
nificance when we can describe it not as mater- 
ialistic, but as Christian. God is the Author of 
the great plan — and presides over every step of 
its unfolding. He created the star dust, the 
wonderful electron atom — He formed the universe 
of blazing suns and this beautiful earth upon 
which we dwell. He gives the life in all its 
forms which makes this earth its home, even 
the high mental and moral life of mankind, 
and He gives the eternal life in His Son, our 
Savior. "To know God and Jesus Christ whom 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 127 



He hath sent is Eternal Life." He always gives 
by using that already given and adding to it. 
It gives new direction to old powers, new appli- 
cation to such powers in the new life. 

God does not contradict Himself in His works, 
so that His conduct at any single point is in- 
dependent of and separate from the rest. What- 
ever control he exercises over man and in man, 
is consistent with the free agency He originally 
gave man. God never coerces man. As a free 
agent, man fell into sin — as a free agent he 
remains in sin — so as a free agent he has faith 
in Christ and is saved from sin. Faith is not a 
new power given to a special few, but the power 
possessed toward men, now taking the direction 
toward God, and the change of direction is worked 
by God in the natural way by presenting Christ 
as the incentive and object of faith. God works 
by laws, a regular procedure — Man discovers and 
obeys laws. In nature obedience to law may be 
without conscious dependence upon God, and se- 
cures the natural results — the harvest from sow- 
ing the seed, but loses ever in this, the highest 
realm of the harvest, as a gift of God. But in 
salvation, obedience to God includes conscious 
dependence upon God — the surrender of the soul 
to God in the use of and obedience to the truth 
and in trust and obedience to God in Christ. 

The idea of a capricious God is not found in 
nature, nor yet in the Bible. God is sovereign, 
both nature and Bible agree, but capriciousness 
belongs to earthly kings, not to the Heavenly 



128 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



King. He saves according to the pleasure of His 
own will. But we know His character, we know 
His will is good to the children of men. Listen 
to Christ : "God so loved the world that He gave 
His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in Him might be saved." The Apostle John 
says the gospel "was written that we might 
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 
and so have life in Him." The Apostle James 
says, "Of His own will begat He with the word 
of truth." The Apostle Peter says: "Ye are 
born again by the word of God." The Apostle 
Paul says — he who wrote our text — "So their 
faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word 
of God." Our Lord's Day of the Catechism has 
caught the spirit of the Scriptures, and tells 
us the Holy Ghost worketh faith by the use of 
means, the preaching of the Word, and the use 
of the Sacraments. 

With reference to the Church, there are evi- 
dently but two classes. Members, grouped to- 
gether by faith in Christ — and not members. 
We can hardly say that those not members have 
no faith in Christ. There are many, doubtless, 
who are careless and indifferent to the claims of 
Christ. Still, even these know of Christ and so 
have that element of faith — belief on sufficient 
evidence. Surely you should not be indifferent 
to the claims of Christ upon you. His great 
interest in you should show you the importance 
of learning more of Him — by trusting Him — of 
living in and for Him. If you do not give Him 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 129 



your heart and life, you withhold from Him 
His due; and you can never be right while you 
are doing Him so great a wrong. 

Others have faifti in Christ, they think and 
claim, but do not unite with His Church for 
various reasons, as, they are not worthy, they 
are not clear on various points of doctrine. They 
are better now than many church members, and 
a host of other reasons. Granting that you have 
faith in Christ, is your course right? Christ 
has founded His Church and given it a great 
work to do in this world. The Church is distinct 
from the world by organization and ordinance — 
and as such has a large and beneficient work to 
do in the world, to represent and preach the 
Word and Life of the Savior to the race of man- 
kind. Now, if all should follow your example 
and influence, the church would cease, would 
come to an end in the world. Christ's plan of 
saving the world would fail. You may say, my 
life is small — but it is large enough for that — 
it sets that example — it puts forth that influence. 
It is well to be humble, but we are carrying our 
humility too far when we make it an excuse for 
not obeying Christ. 

The class of church members should recall 
that like the Ephesians, they are by God's grace 
of the household of God — having duties and 
privileges high and glorious. Of these the follow- 
ing Lord's Days of our Catechism more fully 
treat. 



X. 



TWENTY-FIFTH, TWENTY-SIXTH AND 
TWENTY-SEVENTH LORD'S DAYS OF 
THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM" 

Go ye therefore and make disciples of 
all the nations baptizing them into the 
name of the Father and of the Son and of 
the Holy Ghost.— Matt. 28:19. 

IT is said of John the Baptist, the herald of 
the King, that he preached "The Kingdom 
of Heaven is at hand" and "Baptized in the 
wilderness." 

Christ himself was baptized by John in the 
Jordan when the Holy Spirit descended upon 
Him as a dove, and a voice out of the Heaven 
said: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am 
well pleased." 

During the ministry of Christ the disciples of 
Christ baptized large numbers of those who be- 
lieved on him. 

Our text gives the last command of Christ to 
His disciples as He was about to ascend to heaven. 
They were to make disciples of all the nations — 
were to baptize all such disciples, were to teach 
them to follow Christ by obeying his commands 
— and in so doing they had His promise that He 
would be with them through all ages to the end 
of the world. 

130 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 131 



The history of the Christian Church in the 
early days after the ascension of Christ, is de- 
scribed in the book of the Acts — on the day of 
Pentacost Peter declares to all the people that 
the Jesus they had crucified was the Christ Who 
had been exhalted, had received of the Father 
the promise of the Holy Spirit and "He had 
poured forth that which ye see and hear." 
Many receive this word, about 3,000 souls — and 
they were baptized. In the following statements 
of the book of the Acts frequent mention is made 
of baptism. Men and women were baptized — 
households were baptized — "he and all his 
were baptized" — the early disciples evidently 
obeyed the last command of their Lord. From 
that day to this through the long ages and the 
varied experiences and the many races of man- 
kind the simple ceremony of baptism has been 
and now is the rite of initiation of the Christian 
Church. 

It varies in the mode of administration. In 
the wonderful Baptistry of the Roman Catholic 
Church in Florence it is by pouring. In the 
Churches of the Baptists in our and in other 
lands it is by immersion. In our own church, 
as in most Protestant Churches it is by sprink- 
ling. In some places all three methods are em- 
ployed at the same time. A stream of water 
deep enough is used — the one representing the 
Church stands in this river and baptizes those 
coming down to him. Some bend the head and 
he sprinkles them from the hand full of water 



132 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



he takes from the river — others bend still lower 
and he pours the water from a pitcher on their 
heads — still others he immerses in the river — 
very likely such was the scene when John the 
Baptist baptized in the River Jordan. In any 
case it is the application of water to the believer, 
and he is "Baptized into the name of the Father, 
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost ,, — by the 
command of Christ. 

Our church acknowledges the validity of either 
mode, pouring, immersion, or sprinkling, though 
for sufficient reasons, as we shall see, it prefers 
the mode of sprinkling. 

Now should an intelligent observer, one who 
had never heard of Christ or of Christianity, 
witness for the first time the rite of Baptism — 
he would be very apt to ask three questions — 
how did this practice begin — what is its history 
— who are these who are baptized — what peculiar 
society do they form, and what does it mean to 
them, and to all others, and to me? 

We who are so familiar with the custom will 
do well to ask the same questions. 

What is its history — when did it begin — how 
has it continued — how did the variety of modes 
arise ? 

Records of great events in the olden times 
were written on stone — as the obelisks of Egypt 
—or in brick as the cuneform records of Baby- 
lon or in written histories as by Heroditus, or 
in their effect on mankind — as the battle of Issus 
was followed by the extending of the Greek 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 133 



Kingdom and language and influence in Asia. 
One of the most enduring records of a great 
event, more clear it may be and even lasting than 
that on stone, or brick, or printed page or its 
influence in the history of Greece is that found 
in a significant ceremony observed by a human 
society whose existence is linked with it. 

One of the strong evidences that Christ lived 
and taught, died on the Cross, arose from the 
dead, ascended into heaven, as recorded in the 
Gospels is the existence of the Christian Church 
today and its observance of this simple ceremony 
of initiation into its membership. We go back 
through the ages until we come to the time when 
Christ gave the command to the disciples to 
baptize all nations. 

We can easily see how the variety in mode 
arose when we recognize the tendency of human 
nature to elaborations of ceremony and to the 
love of mystery. Pouring is more elaborate 
than sprinkling — and associated with it is hav- 
ing elaborate baptismal founts in our Churches, 
found in the early history of the church and 
growing again in our day. Immersion arose in 
later ages of the church in finding in the Greek 
word we translate Baptism, a depth of meaning 
impossible to apply to the ceremony itself. The 
word has two forms, one means to dip, as to dye 
a garment in some colored liquid. The other 
means to immerse, but there is no idea in it of 
the immersed ever coming out of the water. 
It remains there. The ship sinks into the sea 



134 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



and is soaked with the water — is immersed. This 
deep and mystic meaning may apply to the 
thing signified, but not to the ceremony of bap- 
tism with water. The one baptized in water is 
neither dyed with water, nor does he remain 
immersed in it. 

The infinite wisdom and grace of our Lord and 
Savior led Him to select such a simple rite that 
all the love in our nature of elaboration and of 
mystery, as it finds its exercise in all races and 
through the long ages, could not obscure nor 
greatly change the simplicity of the ceremony. 

The second question of the intelligent observer 
is who are these who are baptized, what society 
do they form? The command of Christ gives 
the satisfactory answer. Those who were taught 
of Christ, who thus became His disciples, and 
were led thus to do His commands — those who 
acknowledged Him as their Lord were to be 
baptized. The three thousand who were bap- 
tized at Pentacost were added to the Apostles 
and continued in the teaching and fellowship — so 
it is said in the narrative of the next few days 
that the number of those who hearing the word 
believed came to be about five thousand. 

Christ in His earthly ministry has said that a 
confession of faith in Him as the Lord was the 
rock upon which He would build His church. 

In the Acts, which recounts the continued work 
of Christ, the Holy Spirit sent by the ascended 
Christ blesses the proclaiming of Christ as the 
Lord by the disciples, in adding to their number 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 135 



a multitude of believers, who upon believing were 
baptized and so became members of the Church. 

Now as we look through the long centuries 
back to the time of Christ and over the many 
races of men dwelling in the many lands and 
climes, many people of varied gifts and stages 
of development we are amazed at the simplicity 
of the rite of initiation into the Christian Church. 
There is the entire absence of the occult — it re- 
quires no long instruction into many mysterious 
features — there is nothing difficult in it. It re- 
quires no hard training, nor strong effort, — there 
is nothing costly in it. It requires no accumula- 
tion of wealth, it is for the poor, the weak, the 
ignorant, as well as for the rich, the strong and 
the learned. Is it not like the Christ? He 
would shut no believer out of His Church. He 
is infinitely gracious to all. And still it is like 
the great teacher Himself — He makes plain the 
most important truths — it is vastly significant, 
the simple rite of baptism. 

The baptism of infant children is also in 
harmony with Christ's teaching. "Suffer the little 
children to come unto me and forbid them not, 
for to such belongeth the Kingdom of heaven" 
— it is in harmony with the promises of the Old 
Testament to the people, "To you and to your 
seed after you" — and it is in harmony with the 
practice of the early church in the baptism of 
households. 

We now turn to a third earnest question — what 
does baptism mean to those baptized, and to all 



136 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



others? Our Catechism in the former Lord's 
Day gives the answer — "The Holy Ghost works 
faith in our hearts by the preaching of the 
Gospel and confirms it by the use of the Sacra- 
ments," and further, "The Sacraments are visible 
signs and seals appointed by God to declare and 
seal to us the promise of the Gospel." The 
command of Christ makes baptism follow faith; 
the preaching awakens faith in Christ, baptism 
signifies and confirms the faith. Water is used 
for reviving — particularly for cleansing — water 
withheld, the earth grows dusty, parched and 
dead. Water given, the desert blooms with 
flowers and fruit. Water withheld, man becomes 
soiled and parched — water applied, he becomes 
fresh and clean. The application of water to 
the head of disciples, the sprinkling with water 
in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy 
Ghost signifies that the God we worship renews 
and cleanses us from sin, the sin that defiles and 
deadens. The command of Christ, the Great Head 
of the Church to baptize the disciples into the 
church membership makes the rite not only 
significant but is given to us as a seal of His 
promise to confirm our faith. We use a seal 
to authenticate a deliberate act or promise. So 
Christ promises to save the one believing in Him 
and adds the baptism as a seal of His promise. 
So the Apostle Paul in describing his own conver- 
sion from unbelief in Christ to believing in Him 
as his Lord, says that Ananias representing the 
Church exhorted him "To be baptized and wash 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 137 



away his sins calling on the name of Christ." 
We see therefore that baptism welcomes one 
into the society of believers, the Church; that it 
signifies what Christ does to the believer, cleanses 
and renews him; and that it is graciously given 
to the believer to quicken his faith — it is the 
seal of Christ's promise to save him from sin. 

While the significant rite of entering into the 
church coming from Christ Himself is to be 
greatly valued by us we are to be careful not to 
allow our inherent love of mystery to attribute 
such meaning to it as to obscure rather than to 
reveal Christ, and there is great danger of this 
as the history of the church clearly proves. 
There is no such thing as baptismal regenera- 
tion. Baptism does not regenerate but signifies 
that Christ regenerates. It is obvious that 
baptism itself does not save — Christ saves. 
Baptism does not wash away sins — Christ 
cleanses— baptism does not renew the soul- 
Christ renews — so membership in the church 
does not save — the church does not save, — Christ 
saves. Having been baptized in infancy does 
not save the adult, it should lead such to a 
personal faith in Christ the Savior. Neither does 
baptism save the child dying in infancy. We 
have abundant reason for believing that all 
children dying in infancy are saved by the 
atoning death of Christ, as Christ says, "To such 
belongeth the kingdom of heaven" — Christ wel- 
comes them to His blood bought salvation. 



138 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



It certainly is a sad mistake for anyone to 
think that he can be saved by any formal act, 
by being baptized — by becoming a member of 
the church — salvation can only be by becoming 
by faith a member of Christ. 

By the very simplicity of the rite Christ warns 
us against bringing into it our own wild fancies 
and false hopes — we are to see Him in His 
gracious work and plain teaching — we are to 
look through it to Christ alone. 

On the other hand we are not to be content 
with simply believing in Christ without being 
baptized. We may think we have some reasons 
for this, and for not uniting with Christ's 
Church, but we should question every reason 
which leads one to disobey the clear command of 
the Christ he believes in, of the Savior he trusts. 

He has commanded us to confess Him before 
men. The life is the true confession of course, 
but here is a significant act for such confession 
which Christ Himself has selected and com- 
manded; here is also the church to whom He 
has given the proclamation of His truth to the 
world by word and life. We should observe the 
act, should unite with His church. 

Through all the ages this rite, and the entrance 
to His church have existed. They exist today for 
His gracious purpose. We are to use them now 
and to hand them down to the coming time by 
His direction. 

These then are the meanings of baptism to 
those who are baptized, and to all others. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 139 



One enters His church by Christ's appointed 
way as a believer in Him, thus confessing Him 
before men as his Lord and allying himself with 
His followers. One thereby not only confesses 
his faith and thus honors his Lord and Savior 
but also strengthens his faith as he recognizes 
the significance of the rite in Christ's teaching — 
and receives it as Christ's own seal to His promise. 
It becomes of vast meaning to him in strengthen- 
ing his faith. 

Those who witness the rite but do not them- 
selves believe in Christ are taught and should be 
deeply impressed — that Christ washes away sins 
and renews the soul. 

This simple and clear teaching of the Great 
Teacher and wondrous Savior should lead them 
to see their need of Him and to trust in Him 
as their own personal Savior. 



XI. 



TWENTY-EIGHTH, TWENTY-NINTH AND 
THIRTIETH LORD'S DAYS OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER" 

And he took bread and when he had 
given thanks he broke it and gave it to 
them saying this is my body which is 
given for you; this do in remembrance of 
me — And the cup in like manner after 
supper saying, This cup is the new cove- 
nant in my blood which is poured out for 
you.— Luke 22:19-20. 

IN certain portions of Africa and South 
America a white stone is found which is 
beautiful even in its rough state. But the 
whiteness is an accumulation of the dust of ages. 
When this dull outside covering has been taken 
off, when diamond has cut diamond into many 
bright sufaces, then the stone flashes with light 
as a spark of the sun and readily takes rank as 
the most precious of gems. So in order to dis- 
cern the clear meaning of the Lord's Supper we 
must carefully cut off the errors and supersti- 
tions of the elaborate ceremonies which have 
accumulated upon it as it has come down to us 
through the ages until we have nothing left but 
the simple ceremony instituted by Christ Himself, 
a gem of purest ray serene, flashing its bright 
light upon our believing souls. 

140 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 141 



The tendency in human nature to elaborate the 
ceremonies of religion and to associate mysterious 
power with them could find but little scope for 
its exercise in baptism as we have already con- 
sidered — it was a rite of initiation, the one thing 
being the application of water to the one enter- 
ing the Christian Church to be but once applied 
and only to a single or to only a few individuals 
at one time. But the Lord's Supper was to be 
frequently observed by all members of the Chris- 
tian Church as a society, an act of worship more 
elaborate in itself and of great significancy in 
its frequency and general observance. 

The growth of ceremony probably began very 
early in the history of the Christian Church and 
we can easily account for it. The simple religion 
of Jesus Christ was planted in the midst of the 
splendid and magnificent ceremonials of the 
Jewish religion in the Temple at Jerusalem, and 
spreading thence to the great pagan cities of 
Egypt, Greece and Rome it met everywhere the 
elaborate and mysterious ceremonies of the great 
heathen Temples. Worshippers of our Lord 
Jesus Christ largely came out from these re- 
ligions — they brought with them of course the 
educated taste received from such elaborate cere- 
monies and desiring to win others from these 
religions as well as satisfy their own tastes they 
would quite naturally begin to make the religion 
of Christ more attractive in ceremonial. In so 
doing from such good motives they would not 
intend to in any way change the religion they 



142 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



confessed, and still as ceremonies have their deep 
meaning as the elaboration grew the change in 
beliefs would naturally follow. The simplicity of 
the ceremony as Christ instituted it, as it came 
from the Great Teacher, taught simple truths — 
elaboration would do away with the simplicity 
both of the ceremony and its teaching. 

The Roman Catholic Church today — as when 
our fathers came out from it and our Heidelberg 
Catechism was made, holds views of the Sacra- 
ment widely different from ours and makes it 
the centre of their elaborate worship. It is no 
stretch of Christian charity for us to believe 
that in the Roman Catholic Church there are 
many true disciples of Christ who have an 
humble faith in Him alone for their salvation, 
who sincerely obey His precepts and live their 
lives in His spirit and after His example. As 
we examine the errors of that Church with 
regard to the Lord's Supper, we should avoid 
any harsh, unchristian spirit and simply try to 
keep our faith free from them, and to bring 
others out from such errors as we have an oppor- 
tunity. I think I state the matter fairly — at 
least, I mean to, from all the information I can 
gather. 

The Roman Catholic Church holds that the 
bread and wine used in the Lord's Supper are 
changed in the act of consecration by the al- 
mighty power of God into the body and blood of 
Christ and as the divinity of Christ is insepara- 
bly connected with the body and blood, they 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 143 



believe the whole Christ is present in each parti- 
cle of the consecrated bread and wine. 

The elements are therefore no longer bread 
and wine but the body and blood of Christ, they 
have become Christ Himself — the sacrifice — the 
host. The elaborate ceremonies of the church 
therefore have this as the centre. 

The host is worshipped. The most impressive 
scene in the worship of that church is near the 
close of the service when the priest takes from 
the Tabernacle the consecrated host and turning 
slowly lifts it over the congregation; a little bell 
gives warning, and the whole congregation bend 
the head in worship, the host is too holy to be 
looked upon — again the bell rings, the host is 
replaced by the priest in the Tabernacle of the 
Altar. 

Those who have witnessed the elevation of the 
host must be impressed by the evident devotion 
of both priests and people. Longfellow in the 
Gold-en Legend says: 

"Melodious bells among the spires 
"O'er all the house tops, and through heaven 
above 

"Proclaim the elevation of the Host." 

The host is offered in sacrifice for sin. The 
Sacrifice of the Mass is the same as the sacrifice 
of Christ upon the Cross, is its constant repeti- 
tion. As the sacrifice is the same so also is the 
Priest. Christ offers Himself. The officiating 
priest is carefully instructed not to say this is 
the body of Christ, but "This is my body." This 



144 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



sacrifice is offered not only for the sins of all 
the people, but for individual sins and for sins 
after death as well. 

In order to partake of this sacrifice therefore 
there must be individual confession of sins to 
the priest, penance directed by him and absolu- 
tion given by him; these are necessary prepara- 
tions for partaking of the Lord's Supper. 

In partaking of the Lord's Supper, one par- 
takes of Christ Himself. The consecrated wafer 
is given by the priest to the communicant — but 
not the blood of Christ since there is the danger 
of a drop falling on the ground which would be 
desecration. But the belief is that each one 
partaking of the Supper partakes in that act of 
Christ Himself and therefore that the consecrated 
wafer conveys the inherent strength of Christ 
Himself to the communicant. Also it follows that 
if one does not partake of the wafer he has no 
part in Christ. 

If the claim is made that the change of the 
bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ 
is the miracle worked by God to authenticate His 
Son and His Church we can only say that it is 
contrary to all the nature of miracles in the 
Scriptures. They appeal to the senses as 
beyond the ordinary laws and forces of nature; 
this is contradicted by the senses. The form, 
color, taste, properties of the bread and wine re- 
main, these cannot belong to the body and blood 
of Christ, they must therefore exist without be- 
longing to any substance — a test of faith con- 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 145 



trary to all the tests of Scripture or experience. 

But if the bread and wine still remain such 
then to worship them borders on idolatry and 
their sacrifice is derogatory to the sacrifice of 
Christ. 

We think of Christ as saying this bread 
broken by me represents my body soon to be 
broken on the Cross for you; this wine poured 
out by me represents my blood soon to be poured 
out on the cross for the remission of your sins. 

But though we Protestants thus cast aside the 
elaborate addition of ceremony and errors found 
in the Roman Catholic Church, and strive to go 
back to the simplicity of the Lord's Supper as 
instituted by our Lord, there is grave danger 
we may unintentionally and unconsciously have 
our views tinged by their's to some extent. This 
is quite natural, almost inevitable, when we con- 
sider that our fathers were Romanists and broke 
away from their life long association and culti- 
vated taste and views, and that we live today 
side by side with that church, and more and 
more recognize the greatness of her history and 
her life and her work in the world. 

One such danger is to regard the Lord's Sup- 
per as a great mystery — this is a shadow of 
transubstantiation. Rather it is a simple rite to 
make plain a great truth of our religion, the 
bread broken, the wine poured out to show that 
Christ died for us — our eating and drinking to 
show our trust in him. 

The truth is stupendous — but the sign is so 



146 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



simple in order to help the most learned and 
the most ignorant believer to grasp that truth. 

Another danger we are to guard against is 
that the Lord's Supper is a peculiar channel 
of grace, that Christ is specially present in His 
supper in what is called the Real presence of 
the Ritualists; this is more even than a shadow 
of Roman transubstantiation — it may be called 
consubstantiation. Christ is indeed present in 
His Supper but only in the same sense He is 
present in the Scriptures, in the word He 
preached; in fact the Lord's Supper is His own 
preaching of the word — making plain and show- 
ing forth His own teaching of the meaning of 
His death to quicken our faith. 

A third danger arising from these two is to 
regard the Lord's Supper as requiring great 
holiness to partake of it. This too is a shadow 
of transubstantiation which requires freedom 
from sin, the confession to the priest and his 
absolution to become a communicant. 

But our form for the administration of the 
Lord's Supper says: "We do not come to this 
supper to testify that we are perfect and right- 
eous in ourselves; but on the contrary consider- 
ing that we seek our life out of ourselves in 
Jesus Christ we acknowledge that we lie in the 
midst of death." 

It is indeed a rite of awe inspiring solemnity 
and requires due preparation on the part of the 
communicant — but the preparation is a sense of 
our sinfulness and of our faith in our Savior. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 147 



The Apostle Paul's exhortation to examine our- 
selves lest we eat and drink condemnation to 
ourselves guards against making it a feast of 
self indulgence. 

It seems that in the church at Corinth each 
family brought its own provisions, the rich 
feasted on more than the poor could bring, 
hence division rather than communion, hence 
also the danger of over gratification of appetite 
— the tendency to diversion and drunkenness — 
to profane the supper and the Lord of the supper 
before the heathen was the danger Paul warned 
against. 

Now we go back through the ages to the night 
of the betrayal and denial and desertion — when 
Christ went alone to the cross, when they had 
not learned fully the teaching of His death — they 
have kept the passover, the old testament sacra- 
ment now fulfilled in Christ. And now He breaks 
the bread and pours the wine and gives to His 
disciples and they eat and drink with Him, and 
He institutes the Lord's Supper for all future 
ages. We see at once it is a communion — the 
intimate fellowship of the Supper. Christ is 
their acknowledged Lord. They have various 
degrees of knowledge of Him — of faith in Him 
and of character resembling Him; but they are 
equals among themselves in that they are be- 
lievers in Him — they commune with Him. 

His acts and words teach the disciples the 
meaning of His coming death. He could have 
avoided the cross, ascending with the "Twelve 



148 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Legions of Angels." He could have overthrown 
the power of Rome as easily as the soldiers 
were thrown to the ground when He said "I am" 
in the garden. But He taught them that He died 
for them — that He gave up His own life upon 
the cross for them. This broken bread repre- 
sents my body which is given to you — so I break 
it, and give it to you — so I give my life for you 
as He gave the cup, "It is the New Testament in 
my blood which is poured out for you" — "For 
the remission of sins." All of you drink of it — 
and they all drank of it. You do not fully 
understand my mission, my death but I show 
you now — that I die for you — this is a sign to 
you — and this is my pledge to you. 

We see at once the gracious tenderness of 
Christ in giving to His ignorant and weak dis- 
ciples in the hour of their need such a clear 
and simple teaching of the meaning of His death 
and such a plain and strong pledge to confirm 
their faith that He died for them — and so would 
secure the remission of their sins and would 
sustain and cheer their life in Him. There is 
nothing to repel the weak faith, its whole design 
is to feed and strengthen the weak faith. This 
is no mystery, its whole design is to explain the 
mystery of His death. This gracious tenderness 
of Christ comes down to us in our need — a sign 
and seal of His dying for us and giving His life 
to us. There is the utmost graciousness there- 
fore in the command of Christ, to those disciples 
and through them to the disciples of all succeed- 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 149 



ing ages. "This do in remembrance of me." He 
shows them they have a duty to Him as well as 
a great privilege in communing with Him. Re- 
member me — I have taught you the way of 
holiness. Remember me — I have died for you. 
Remember me — I live for you and in you. This 
is the clear teaching and the loving appeal of 
the Supper — soundness of faith must result — 
the central truth of Christ's atoning death is 
clearly and constantly to be kept in mind. Fervor 
of heart must result as we think of His wonderful 
love in dying for us — in securing freedom from 
the penalties and pollution of sin for us, by His 
loving self sacrifice. Holiness of life must result 
as we recognize that we no longer should live 
to ourselves, but to Him who died for us and 
rose again who is our ever living Lord and 
Savior. In describing the institution of the 
Lord's Supper, the Apostle Paul adds as is 
clearly intended in this remembrance of Christ, 
"that as often as we thus eat this bread and 
drink this cup we proclaim the Lord's death till 
He come." Thus each member of Christ's church 
— and the whole church throughout the ages 
preaches and proclaims to all the world the death 
of Christ for the sins of the world — and thus 
calls upon all to believe in Him for salvation. 
This is to continue until Christ comes again — the 
hope held before each believer — before the whole 
church — before the whole world — that He who so 
loved us that He died for us — who lives now in 
believing souls, and who yearns over all souls 
to save them, that He will come again. 



150 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Thus the Supper becomes a divinely appointed 
way of confessing Christ before the world, of 
preaching Him to the world and thus of con- 
firming our faith and quickening our love and 
devotion for Him. The two must ever be united 
as clearly intended by Christ. 

The Lord's Supper has not mystic power ; it in 
no sense saves from sin, but it constantly directs 
the attention of the believer and of the world 
to the central vital truth of Christianity that 
Christ died for sinners. 

Examine ourselves in the light of this truth, 
in our personal relation to this Christ. Christ 
went from the Supper to the Cross. He died for 
our sins — to the resurrection — He rose for our 
justification — to the throne on high — He lives in 
us by His spirit; He will come again to complete 
His blood bought salvation. We need Him. Let 
us trust Him. He commands us to confess Him. 
Let us obey Him. He promises to save us. Let 
us take the seal of His promise as given to us 
by Him. He calls us to proclaim His death till 
He comes. Let us with ever quickened faith, 
with ever increasing love, with ever growing 
likeness to Him as fostered by our frequent 
observing His Supper in remembrance of Him, 
commend Him to the world as our Lord and our 
Redeemer. We trust in the person Jesus Christ 
— love Him — serve Him — preach Him to the 
world in observing the Supper He instituted in 
remembrance of Him. 



XII. 

THIRTY-FIRST LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 

"ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH" 

And I will give unto thee the keys of 
the Kingdom of Heaven: and whatsoever 
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound 
in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose 
on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 



IBBON, in his history of Rome, alleges 



there were five causes for the early and 



extensive spread of Christianity in the 
Roman Empire. First, the zeal of the disciples 
of Christ. Second, the belief in the rewards of 
a future life. Third, their claiming the power 
to cure diseases. Fourth, their pure, even 
austere morals; and fifth, their churches were 
republics in which equality, brotherly love and 
pure discipline prevailed. 

There had been so-called republics in early 
Greece and Rome, but in both cases it was only 
of free citizens, and often these were a very 
small proportion of the population. In Greece, 
at one time, it is alleged that four-fifths of the 
people were slaves; and Gibbon says that at 
least one-half of the population of the Roman 
Empire were slaves. These, and the multitude 
of citizens of conquered lands, and with them a 
multitude of the poor were excluded from all 
power in the government. Even early republics 



—Matt. 16:19. 




151 



152 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



were autocracies and in the time of Christ, the 
government of the empire was in the hands of 
a very few autocrats — the mass of the people 
were not even citizens of Rome — they were the 
ignoble, the poor, the slaves, and the subject 
people of conquered nations. 

When a church was established in any city of 
the great empire by the preaching of the gospel, 
the admission to the church and the government 
of the church were placed in its own hands by 
the words of Christ in our text — under the 
questioning of Christ, Peter speaking for the 
disciples, had just confessed their belief that 
Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Christ 
then said to him, upon this confession of faith, 
upon this rock, I will build my church. And unto 
thee, thus voicing the faith and so representing 
the disciples — that is, unto my church I give the 
keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that is the 
power of admission and exclusion to its own 
membership. 

The preaching of the gospel by an apostle in 
any city of the empire or the preaching of 
travelers, gathered a few disciples of Christ — 
these confessed their faith in him to each other 
and before men, and so the nucleus of the church 
was formed. The sole ground of admission was 
the confession of faith — the applicant might be 
a nobleman, even a member of Caesar's house- 
hold — or a rich business man of the city — or the 
poor citizen — or the slave — all were admitted 
as equals solely upon confession of faith. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 153 



Now as we watch the growth of the church 
as recorded in the Acts, we see a church becom- 
ing so large in numbers that it needed organiza- 
tion — such a church elected from its own mem- 
bers. Deacons, whose ministry of alms was 
needed, and further on the Apostles appointed 
Elders elected by the people in each separate 
church. Some of these elected ruling Elders were 
preaching Elders as well. And in bidding fare- 
well to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul 
calls upon these Elders to watch over the flock 
as the Holy Ghost had made them Bishops to 
feed the Church of God. 

Thus in the prevailing, autocratic, civil govern- 
ment there was established a society having for 
the admission and government of its member- 
ship, the equality, brotherly love and self-control 
of a religious republic. We can easily see, with 
Gibbon, the great historian, that this would be 
an element greatly fostering the spread of Chris- 
tianity. 

In this day of great conflict between autocracy 
and democracy among the nations of the earth, 
when our own great republic has entered the con- 
flict that democracy may have freedom of de- 
velopment in the world, it is well for us to 
recognize that the government Christ established 
in His church was a republic. God's plans do 
not change. This had been God's plan for the 
government of His ancient people of Israel — 
Moses had brought the people of Israel out from 
slavery, under Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and had 



154 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



formed a government for them in their new 
land. This too, was a republic — the tribes were 
to govern themselves — they were to elect their 
rulers — "Able men, such as fear God, men of 
truth, hating unjust gain, to be rulers of the 
divisions of the people/' Moses not only de- 
livered from the bondage of Egypt, but provided, 
by God's direction, a government opposite in 
spirit from that of Egypt: that afterwards 
autocracy, the grasping of power by the ambi- 
tion and ability of a few led to the Kingdom, 
was the act of man — overruled by God at length 
in Christ's government of the spiritual Kingdom, 
that of the Church. 

That in the government of the church, the 
ambitions and ability of a few should within a 
few centuries have brought in the spirit of 
autocracy — the rule of a few over God's people, 
was the act of man in conflict with the design 
of Christ. 

We of the Reformed Church in America may 
well rejoice, both for the government of our 
great nation and for our church that we can 
trace back through our Holland ancestry in the 
Dutch Republic, the teaching of Christ and the 
New Testament Church these four great princi- 
ples — First, The Source of Authority, the people 
of the individual church. Second, the people 
ruled by their chosen representatives. Third, 
individual churches combine with each other by 
their representatives — so the states in our nation, 
so the churches in our denomination. Fourth, 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 155 



the band of this combination, both in our nation 
and in our church is a written constitution. 

So the name of our church itself is not derived 
from government simply as is the Episcopal, the 
Presbyterian, or the Congregational churches; 
or from rites of worship as is the Baptist, or 
from method of life as is the Methodist, but in 
government worship and in life, we go back of 
all the errors of our Mother Rome and of all 
the peculiarities of our Protestant sister churches 
and as clearly as we can learn and as earnestly 
as we can strive we seek to deserve the name 
Reformed, to be the New Testament church 
formed again in our modern day. 

Now as we ask our Heidelberg Catechism 
what are the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven 
given to the church by the Lord, the answer is 
clear and reasonable, "The preaching of the 
Holy Gospel and Christian Discipline." Without 
the gospel there is sin in our hearts and lives — 
sin in the world but no remedy. Preaching the 
gospel is the proclaiming by anyone having ex- 
perienced it of the God-given remedy for sin. 
The Apostle Paul says, "We are ambassadors for 
Christ, as tho' God did beseech you by us, we 
pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to 
God." Herein is the open door— the key that 
unlocks and welcomes into the church — the be- 
liever confesses his faith in Christ. The church 
is thus the society of believers as Christ taught 
when his disciples confessed him as their Lord. 
Whosoever therefore, believes in Christ as the 



156 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Lord and Savior, is to be admitted into the 
Christian Church on confession of this faith. He 
may be poor or rich, learned or unlearned, low 
in social standing or high, having had a good 
record in morals or a bad one — he is to be ad- 
mitted to the equality of a confession of Christ. 
All that can be required of his confession is that 
it should be credible. The officers of the church, 
the church itself, may be deceived. A confession 
may be false and hidden by a fair life. It 
should be fairly judged at the time of making 
it and throughout the continued membership. 
Christ gives the church both the power of admis- 
sion and of expulsion. Both powers are to be 
exercised in His spirit and under His direction, 
and are so confirmed by Him. Even sincere 
believers are not perfect — among them offences 
may arise. Church discipline is therefore to be 
carried out according to the direction and in the 
spirit of Christ. This, too, our Catechism says 
is the power of the Keys, the opening and the 
shutting of the doors of the visible church that 
it may be like the invisible church seen and 
approved by Christ in Heaven. Immediately 
after the confession of the faith of the disciples 
in our text — and the gift of the Keys to them, 
Christ, with a chosen few, went up into the 
mountain of Transfiguration, where he talked 
with Moses and Elias, representing the Old 
Testament Church of His coming death at Jeru- 
salem. 

Soon after this, as it is recorded in the 18th 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 157 



Chapter of the Gospel by St. Matthew, he gave 
the disciples clear directions for their self-gov- 
ernment as His church. We may glance at the 
general scope of these directions. The greatest 
in the membership of the church is to be the 
most teachable and only controlled by Christ. 
The offender is to be treated with largest con- 
sideration- — great faithfulness and utmost love. 
The object is to win him back to consistent life. 
Even if he must be expelled, he is to be as a 
publican and sinner — so not to be rejected, ostra- 
cized, contemned — but with loving desire to win 
them all to Christ. Each one also is to express 
the utmost forgiving spirit to a brother who 
offends, as he recognizes his own great need of 
the forgiveness of God. We see at once discipline 
is to be exercised by each member over himself 
—by each member over his nearby brother, by 
the whole church in love to Christ and love to 
all the members. It is not a matter of discretion 
to be left undone if one chooses, but to be faith- 
fully exercised in the spirit and under the 
direction of Christ. Then are repeated the words 
of our text: "Whatsoever ye bind on earth shall 
be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever ye shall 
loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven." This 
is a terrible power given in these words if be- 
stowed upon any class of men to be exercised 
according to their own will. Arbitrary govern- 
ments in the affairs of this life only, have always 
involved for the one put to death, an appeal to 
God in the future life — and even against such 



158 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



limited power men rise in their manhood to fight 
for freedom. 

But there is no arbitrary power given here. 
Even God Himself exercises no arbitrary power. 
He always rules in righteousness. With Him 
there is no respect of persons. Surely He would 
not give such power to any class of men. It is 
only when the disciples to whom Christ spoke — 
and in our day the church succeeding the disci- 
ples — act in the spirit of Christ, the spirit of 
love seeking to save, giving himself to save, that 
the power of the Keys exists. Thus, the power 
of the Keys is to be exercised in welcoming to 
full membership in the church upon the con- 
fession of faith and in insisting upon a life in 
obedience to Christ in harmony with such con- 
fession of faith. 

The Apostle Paul spent a year and a half in 
Corinth and gathered a church there of perhaps 
500 members — gathered them in a city of per- 
haps 500,000 heathen, from heathen immorality 
in which they had spent their lives and amid 
which they were to live in this church organiza- 
tion. Corinth, the commercial capital of Greece 
was celebrated for Grecian culture, "Corinthian 
speech" being a synonym for polish and elo- 
quence, and notorious also for profligacy, "Cor- 
inthian life" being a synonym for licentiousness 
— a license fostered by the worship of licentious 
gods. It was to be expected that into a church 
so situated some pride of intellect should enter 
to question about the reasonableness of Paul's 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 159 



teaching and some licentiousness should enter 
to contaminate the purity of the Christian life. 
So in the First Epistle Paul wrote to the 
Corinthians, he directs the church to keep both 
its faith and its life pure. The licentious mem- 
ber is not to be encouraged in his licentiousness 
by the silence of the church. He is to be faith- 
fully rebuked for his own sake — and to keep the 
church to the purity of the life in Christ. If 
he persists, he is to be expelled from the church, 
sent back to the world, but this is to be in love 
to him as well as to save his soul by urging 
him to repentance. The divisions in the church 
of different teachings, and the rejection of some 
great truths of Christianity as the resurrection 
of the body, Paul meets with an eloquence more 
fine, even, than the Corinthian eloquence in the 
chapter on love and the chapter on the resurrec- 
tion. So we have Christ's own teaching on con- 
fession of faith and the life of faith in His 
church, and we have an example by the Apostle 
to the Gentiles of the way in which the preach- 
ing of the gospel and Christian discipline should 
be administered. The object and spirit of dis- 
cipline are thus clearly taught by our Savior and 
illustrated by the Apostle Paul. The honor of 
our Lord, the purity of His church and the wel- 
fare of the offender. Private grudge is pro- 
hibited, popular prejudice is to be avoided, arbi- 
trary power is forbidden. The spirit is only 
love — love for Christ, love for His church, love 
for the offender. The brother is to be restored. 



160 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Should he prove stubborn and impenitent, he 
is to be removed from the membership to be 
as a publican and sinner. But the whole spirit 
of the church and experience through the ages 
is to persuade publicans and sinners to trust 
Christ as their Savior. So he is to be persuaded 
to become a Christian. Alas, the church has 
often, especially through the Middle Ages, lost 
the spirit of Christ in her discipline, has ostra- 
cized, imprisoned — even killed the offenders. 

The Catechism clearly declares that both ad- 
mission to the church by the preaching of the 
gospel and exclusion from the church by disci- 
pline should be "according to this command of 
Christ." Surely it is clear that the church 
should admit to its membership all those who 
are really members of Christ by a true faith. 
There should be, of course, an intelligent accep- 
tance of Christ, a trust in Him for salvation from 
sin, and a purpose to live in obedience to Him. 
All these the disciples had when they confessed 
their Lord. But they had a great deal yet to 
learn about Christ and His redeeming work. He 
had as yet taught them little about the meaning 
of His death. Not a single one of them could, 
at that time, have accepted any of the great 
creeds the church has formulated since the New 
Testament times — creeds based largely upon the 
after-teachings of these same and other disciples. 
While it is very desirable to have creeds as we 
have seen, and to have a membership well 
informed upon them, it is certainly not according 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 161 



to the command of Christ to have acceptance 
of such creeds a condition of admission to the 
church. One may be a sincere confessor of 
Christ as his Lord and Savior and yet be igno- 
rant of many doctrines of the church. He should 
not be deprived of the duty and privilege of 
confessing Christ and of the membership of the 
church. 

The church has no right to make any condi- 
tions of membership other than Christ has made. 
On the other hand, all those who do not acknowl- 
edge Christ as their Lord, do not trust Him as 
their Savior and do not purpose to live in 
obedience to Him should not be admitted to the 
membership — though they be the Kings of the 
earth, the leaders in learning, in wealth and in 
social life. The humblest disciple is to be ad- 
mitted — the loftiest disbeliever is to be excluded 
according to the command of Christ. So with 
discipline. If any member of the church, how- 
ever, great, however small, in worldly rank or 
standing, falls into an offence, clearly seems to 
be an offender, as taught by God in His Word, 
each one is to be reproved in love by the church 
of which he is a member in order that he may 
repent and turn from the offense to live the 
Christ life — and if he becomes impenitent and 
continues his sinful practices, he is to be expelled 
from the church. So if one rejects a doctrine of 
the church, the question arises, is it a primary or 
a secondary doctrine. Some may question, what 
is the primary doctrine? The spirit of the creed 



162 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



certainly should be, "Come believe in the Lord 
Jesus Christ with me: let us trust Him as our 
Savior, and so learn more of Him." A greater 
question still arises. What is the spirit of the 
rejection? Is it rejected because one thinks 
Christ does not teach it, or is the objection a 
rejection of Christ as a teacher? Any real rejec- 
tion of Christ in one's conscience is his own 
withdrawing from the church, and one's fellow- 
members. The church itself, should make that 
plain to the rejecter. Again, such expulsion from 
the church should be exercised in love in such 
a way to bring the loving loyalty to Christ of 
one's fellow-members, to lead to the same loyalty. 

The humblest believer in Christ has the right 
to be admitted into the Christian church. Thus 
he fulfills Christ's command to confess Him 
before men — thus he strengthens his faith by 
the fellowship with believer and cultures the 
Christ life in himself and in them, and thus he 
keeps up the organization of believers Christ 
Himself formed and of which Christ is Himself 
the Living Head, to carry on His work in the 
earth through all the ages to come. His own 
sense of unworthiness, his own ignorance, his 
own weakness should lead him to Christ, and 
these should lead him to obey Christ in uniting 
with His church. 

The church should also welcome all Christ 
welcomes, and should treat all her members as 
Christ would treat them in love. In this way, 
each individual member and the whole church 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 163 



by the preaching of the gospel and by Christian 
discipline, according to the command of Christ, 
seeks the welfare of all its members — sets forth 
the purity of Christ — and proclaims to the world 
the salvation from sin wrought by the loving 
Savior of the lost. 

The influence of the church in thus following 
her Lord's directions will have a large influence 
on public opinions, Christian civilization in its 
laws and judgments has wandered far from 
this spirit of Christ, as the church itself in past 
ages has done and is doing to some extent and 
in some cases, now. Penal laws are to guard the 
best interests of society, to discourage crime. 
Oftentimes vengeance and harshness have ruled. 
Christ brings to our consideration that the best 
interests of society is the restoration of the 
criminal to good citizenship.. It commends such 
treatment as shall show the love of society for 
all its members. Prisons should be controlled by 
love not by vengeance — should reform criminals 
not make and foster them. The church in but 
following her Lord's directions and spirit should 
thus reform the criminal laws of society. The 
church should be pure and strong in her Lord — 
the church discipline should never be neglected 
but should be faithfully enforced and always in 
the spirit of love, to save the offender, and to 
keep the church pure in doctrine and life, so 
preaching Christ to the world. 



XIII. 

TWENTY-FIFTH — THIRTY-FIRST LORD'S 
DAYS OF THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 

"THE IDEAL LIFE OF THE CHURCH" 

This is my commandment, that ye love 
one another as I have loved you. 

—John 15:12. 

IT was the night before the crucifixion — the 
last time before His death that our Savior 
was with His disciples to counsel and direct 
them. His farewell to them is found alone in 
this Gospel, and we have divided it here into 
four chapters. Each chapter has been given a 
single name fairly describing its substance. The 
Comfort Chapter describes Christ's presence with 
them in their duties and trials — the Abiding 
Chapter describes their life of faith in Him — the 
Holy Ghost Chapter describes their spiritual mes- 
sage and power — the Prayer Chapter commends 
them and their life work to the Father in 
Heaven. It sums up all the past teaching and 
it opens up all the future life as illumined by 
the Cross and the Resurrection. Our text sums 
up the whole teaching and work of our Lord in 
His last commandment — "that ye love one another 
as I have loved you — ." In His prayer to the 
Father, He says He sends them into the world 
as His Father sent Him. He prays they may 

164 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 165 



be one, as He and His Father are One — One in 
mission — One in love. "God so loved the world 
that He gave His only Begotten Son that whoso- 
ever believeth on Him should not perish but 
have everlasting life — Christ describes His 
love in the words following the text — "Greater 
love hath no man than this, that a man lay- 
down his life for his friends." The disciples 
are to so believe and trust and adore and obey 
Him that they shall be like Him and like His 
Father; they shall so carry on His work in the 
world in His spirit of love. That they so fulfilled 
His commandment is seen in the life and work 
of the early church. The heathen world acknowl- 
edged and commended them in its familiar say- 
ing — "Behold how these Christians love one 
another." The New Testament describes the 
early church as a company having the spirit of 
love in their single belief — their simple worship 
— their pure government — their devotion in car- 
rying on the work of Christ. In our studies we 
have seen the Apostle's Creed was an early sum- 
ming up of the fundamental truths taught by 
Christ. We have seen the simple worship in the 
plain sacraments of baptism and the Lord's 
supper; we have seen the government of the 
church arising as a pure democracy. As we 
look again, we see at a glance that an undue 
proportion of our Heidelberg Catechism is de- 
voted to the Sacraments. And as we consider 
these Lord's Days we see great stress is laid 
upon freeing our worship from errors and super- 



166 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



stitions. We also recall that much of the ex- 
planations of the Apostle's Creed defends them 
from wrong views and interpretations. As we 
look at the constitution of our church, we see it 
embraces not only the Heidelberg Catechism and 
our Liturgy, but the Belgic Confession of Faith 
and the Canons of the Synod of Dort. As we 
glance at this Confession and these Canons, we 
see they defend various views of many important 
and of some comparatively unimportant truths 
from views held by other classes of Christians 
and denominations of the church. This glance 
at our own undue elaborations of creeds leads 
us to glance at the many creeds of the whole 
church as they have arisen in various ages and 
places, and we see that they too, frequently 
magnify unessential truths, peculiar features of 
worship and special forms of government to the 
distraction of earnest seekers for the truth; to 
repelling the careless, and to the dissension of 
sincere believers into many conflicting and con- 
testing groups. We call our church THE RE- 
FORMED CHURCH, meaning that it is the New 
Testament church formed again. In so doing, 
we recognize there are many divisions and de- 
nominations of the Church Universal existing 
today as the outgrowth of the past, and that 
these differ from our church in creed, in worship 
and in government in various degrees, while all 
acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Head of the 
universal church. How shall we regard and 
treat these denominations and divisions? Shall 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 167 



we hold ourselves aloof in proud distain? Shall 
we magnify the points of differences and antago- 
nize them? Or shall we recognize the good in 
them and respect and love them? The disciples 
of Christ to whom He addressed this command 
had strong peculiarities. They were individuals 
of widely different attainments and tempera- 
ments; but they were disciples of Christ; they 
were to regard their allegiance to Him and their 
growing likeness to Him as controlling, and so 
were to love one another as He loved them. 

In regard to Creed, Worship, Government, we 
of the Reformed Church are to be very strict 
with ourselves; to learn of and estimate our 
peculiarities at their full value. Christ did not 
destroy the individuality of His disciples ; rather 
He cultivated it; but each one recognizing the 
value of His own personality, was to recognize 
and love every other disciple. Christ was the 
ideal, and He inspired the spirit of love among 
the disciples to love as He loved. So with the 
Reformed Church and all the other denomina- 
tions of the Church Universal: we are to value 
ourselves, our view of Christ, our relation to 
Him — to have it grow more and more in our 
experience. And then we are to love all denomi- 
nations in their relation to Christ. We are to 
be strict in judging ourselves and we are to 
have charity in judging others. Christians, in- 
dividuals, groups, denominations are to love one- 
another. And again as we now listen for the 
opinions of the world in what may be called 



168 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Christian lands and so also in heathen lands we 
never hear the ancient tribute, it was silenced 
long ago. There is, alas, no voice of the populace 
in any portion of the world that says today, "Be- 
hold how these Christians love one another." And 
alas, also, the more intelligent the voice, the 
greater the denial of such oneness of spirit in 
the great divisions and many denominations of 
the Christian Church. Also, alas, we cannot 
claim that our denomination is exempt from the 
great fault. There seems to be some ground 
for this fear that Christians today are so using 
their various creeds, modes of worship and forms 
of government that this last command of Christ 
is neglected. Surely the right use of creed, 
liturgy and government should foster and deepen 
love for one another, and so devotion to Christ 
in carrying on His mission in the world. Surely 
also this deep and widespread love Christ com- 
manded if in general exercise in the whole 
church, would have large influence among the 
populace generally in fostering love of man for 
man. If this had been the prevailing spirit among 
Christians through the ages — and if this pre- 
vailed today among all Christians in Christian 
lands, there would surely be a better spirit — 
more love for humanity in what we call Chris- 
tian civilization — and so Christian lands and 
nations would be in strong contrast with heathen 
lands. Alas, the contrast today seems to be 
almost the reverse. The nations of Northern 
Europe where the Christian religion has been 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 169 



established for twelve hundred years and the 
nations of Southern Europe where Christianity 
has been proclaimed for nineteen hundred years, 
and our own nation a Christian nation from its 
birth, are just emerging from a Christian world 
war more fierce and cruel and destructive than 
any war ever waged by heathen nations in the 
history of the race. There has been splendid 
devotion of all our powers, lofty self-sacrifice 
to defend righteousness against cruel wickedness. 
The Allies have, at awful cost, saved the world 
from the arrogance of sinful ambition. But still 
the question arises, How is it possible that 
Christian public opinion in all these lands should 
have permitted such selfish ambition to seek 
world dominion, should have been forced to call 
for such heroic self-sacrifice to save from na- 
tional slavery? Why did not these many Chris- 
tian nations love each other so much that each 
sought the other's welfare as it sought its own? 
But this is only part of the vision. Now the 
war is over, what conflict arises in trying to 
form a peace based on righteousness and a 
League of Nations to prevent future war. It 
seems hard to find a ruling spirit of love. These 
many nations large and small— of different races, 
are all brothers in theory, in the view of Christ ; 
but Christ seems to be seldom mentioned and to 
have but little influence in the Council of Nations 
in Paris or in our own Senate at Washington. 
But still this is only part of the vision. Now 
the war is over, what seething passions under 



170 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



the fair surface of Christian civilization on the 
other side of the ocean and on this side, too, 
threaten to break forth with destructive force. 
Not only in torn Russia, but in law-abiding 
America, class arises against class, growing 
rapidly and ready to spring upon each other in 
fierce warfare, even to the overthrow of the 
government. The neighboring nations not only, 
but neighboring classes do not seem to love each 
other as themselves. Also in the industrial 
world, employees and employers, Capital and 
Labor are struggling with each other, each for its 
own selfish ends, instead of trying each to give 
the other fair treatment and both to benefit man- 
kind. Alas! look at the church still divided in 
great divisions and in many denominations. Can 
any one say each division, each denomination 
loves all others as it loves itself. After nineteen 
centuries, do Christians love one another as 
Christ loves them? There may be some of this 
kind of love existing in mild exercise, in small 
neighborhoods and in small individual churches, 
but there is little sign of it between the sections 
of the church, at any rate, not in large controll- 
ing power. When a noble and energetic man 
is severely criticized as to the results of his life 
work by admiring friends, is assaulted by his 
foes and is only mildly defended by his own 
mature judgment, it will be natural for him 
to review the wisdom of his action. Has he 
had the right object in view, has he chosen the 
best means to accomplish this object, has he 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 171 



devoted sufficient time and power to his life 
work? These will be some of the lines of his 
thoughts as he reviews his past and plans for 
his future. That which commends itself as a 
wise course for an individual is especially wise 
for a class — for the church of Christ. What is 
Christianity, anyway? What is taught in our 
theological seminaries ? What do preachers preach 
about? What do church-going people demand 
of their preachers? For here, as in other 
matters, the demand has something to do with 
the supply. Does Christianity include love, love 
for God, love for the brotherhood of believers, 
love for all mankind to bring them to God the 
Father through Christ the Savior. Is not Chris- 
tianity in itself love, in its method love, in its 
object love. Then the church in forming its 
creeds forms them as a means of cultivating this 
character and accomplishing this end; of draw- 
ing men together and drawing men to God. The 
creed should appeal — Come, let us love the Lord 
Jesus Christ and grow like Him. Whence, then, 
the divisions existing in the church? Because 
the reverse spirit in forming and using creeds 
has found exercise. Pride of opinion has grown 
into selfish intolerance of all other opinion. Var- 
ious descriptions and shadings of truths have 
awakened and been confirmed by controversy, 
the unimportant shadow has hid the truth itself 
and divided and repelled believers from each 
other so that sects in the church have often 
arisen and antagonized each other in a spirit 



172 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



bordering on the warlike. Sometimes God has 
been presented as far from attractive, as having 
such favoritism and partiality, as verges on injus- 
tice, and there is nothing so repellant to human 
nature as injustice. That creed must be wrong 
in itself or wrongly preached which repels from 
God and divides man from man. It certainly 
cannot be in harmony with Christ's creed. He 
calls us to love God our Father because He is 
infinitely lovely in all His character and actions, 
because He loves us with a greater love than any 
earthly father ever had for his children; and 
when we love Him as our Father, we will love 
each other as brethren — and will live and preach 
the love of Christ for all mankind. 

Likewise the church has paid great attention 
to worship through the ages. Who shall con- 
duct it, where shall it be conducted and under 
what forms? We see priests and preachers, 
altars and pulpits, magnificent cathedrals and 
modest meeting-houses, elaborate forms and 
simple ones. All these have so drawn attention 
to themselves and have so divided worshippers 
into classes often contending vigorously that each 
has the only true worship, that the mass of the 
people and the leaders themselves have lost sight 
of what true worship is. If worship is the 
pleasing of God by a man becoming in shape 
worthy of God, then the only question about 
the form of worship is, does it bring a man 
into a shape worthy of God, or does it repel man 
from man and man from God? God is love — 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 173 



worship of God, true worship whatever its forms, 
is loving God and loving man as he loves and 
seeks to save. 

Any group of people to prosper in the present 
and be succeeded in the coming years, must have 
some rules of order, some leadership, some 
common purpose and common life. So govern- 
ment has arisen in the church. It is a bewilder- 
ing maze, the history of church government, 
from pure democracy to absolute monarchy, 
from great liberty to vast tyranny, and between 
these extremes many degrees and grades until 
the object of government has been lost sight of 
— the union and welfare of the governed — until 
the church itself is divided into often contending 
and sometimes fighting factions, while the world 
looks on in amazement. When Christian preachers 
and peoples, the whole church, recognizes the 
failure as well as the success of Christianity, 
and that the success is largely a surface matter, 
and the failure a leaving unchanged the deep 
nature of man; the success a matter of intellec- 
tual belief, creeds, a matter of religious observ- 
ance, formal worship — a matter of fellowship, 
a government ; the failure the losing sight of and 
effort for the object of a simple creed, a pure 
worship and a just government, that is a life 
of devotion to Christ in keeping the law of 
God; when the failure is recognized as it exists 
in the whole world and especially in Christian 
nations, a lack of love among Christians and of 
the influence in planting and fostering love as 



174 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



the spirit of Christianity among classes, nations 
and races of mankind; when the church thus 
reflects upon its life and work for the past 
nineteen centuries in the whole world, it must 
surely cease from fostering complacency, if such 
has been its feeling, and now earnestly resolve 
to turn over a new leaf, to hereafter seek the 
object of Christianity — love — and to use all its 
means and methods to secure that end. There 
is still time for the church to do her great work 
in this earth. The sun is not dying out, the earth 
is not exhausted, the race of man is still young, 
the gospel has not lost its power. There are 
twenty centuries behind us; there may be, 
probably are, two hundred and more centuries 
ahead of us. God is never in a hurry, never 
impatient. In His gracious plans there is still 
an opportunity given His church to spread His 
kingdom in all the earth. There is still a vast 
call for the gospel of love. 

What nation shall have the dominant influence 
in the League of Nations, should it be formed, 
is a question of little importance compared with 
the kind of influence it and all the nations shall 
have — influence of self-aggrandizement or influ- 
ence of loving service. Whether the Bolshevik, the 
Bourgeois or the Aristocrat group shall rule in 
Russia or anywhere else is of little consequence 
beside the question — How shall any class rule 
for itself or for the good of society? If our own 
government of which we are so proud, "the gov- 
ernment of the people, by the people, for the 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 175 



people," amounts to anything worth while, it 
must realize this ideal by the growth of the 
Christian spirit of love. Public opinion must put 
in office those only who regard their office as a 
public trust to be administered not for their own 
power or glory, but for the good of all the people. 
If the great power of man over nature acquired 
today becomes a blessing and not a curse to the 
race, man himself must become Christian. The 
great forces of industry, the inventors, the 
owners, the managers and the employees of 
producing, manufacturing, transporting and 
marketing agencies must each seek the other's 
welfare and all must combine for the good of 
society. 

What a glad day it will be for the earth when 
all these things shall be brought about by Chris- 
tian love. Then will be realized the many 
prophetic visions of the Kingdom of God in this 
earth. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, should 
He return to the earth tomorrow, could not 
establish His kingdom by force, the old Roman 
way. Even He must establish the Kingdom of 
Heaven on earth by leading mankind to keep 
the law of love. This work He now gives His 
Church to do in His service. 

So we easily recognize that the church must 
see and realize that the object of creed, worship 
and government is to live in Him and carry on 
His work. To do this the church must obey the 
last command of her Lord, "That ye love one 
another as I have loved you"; must so yield to 



176 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



the Holy Spirit as to have His spiritual message 
and power, and so must realize the prayer of our 
Lord by becoming one in mission and one in 
love with the Father in Heaven. 

The incidents recorded soon after our text of 
the Garden of Gethsemane and the Court of the 
High Priest, afford an incident to the church of 
today as she reflects upon her past and plans 
for her future. 

Peter was a man of bravery and enthusiasm. 
In the Garden he defended his Master with the 
sword. Peter alas, sometimes distrusted himself 
and quailed before great opposition. He sought 
his own comfort and safety as he sat by the 
fire and warmed himself in the High Priest's 
palace. Peter's strong allegiance to Christ was 
aroused again as Christ looked upon him — and 
he went out and wept bitterly. From this time 
on his bravery and enthusiasm increased until 
his martyr death. It was but a short hour he 
spent by the fire warming himself. Ever after 
he was true to his Lord and did a vast service 
for mankind. 

The nineteen centuries of the church's history 
are but as that short hour. The church has still 
to do a vast work for her Master in the coming 
centuries. 



XIV. 



THIRTY-SECOND LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"GOOD WORKS" 

Who gave himself for us that he might 
redeem us from all iniquity and purify 
unto himself a peculiar people zealous of 
good works. — Titus 2:14. 

IT is astonishing how much truth is condensed 
in and clearly expressed by this text; here 
is stated man's condition in nature "in 
iniquity" — Christ's work to "redeem us" and the 
result man, "zealous of good works." 

This is the truth elaborated, illustrated and 
enforced in the whole Bible. This is the truth 
experienced in the heart and life of each Chris- 
tian. This is the truth set forth in our Heidel- 
berg Catechism. Our Catechism has three divi- 
sions: I. Man's Misery; II. Man's Disobedience; 
III. Thankfulness. 

We now enter upon the third division, Man's 
Thankfulness to God for delivering him from 
his misery. The text says Christ purifies to 
Himself a people for his own possession zealous 
of good works — He describes Salvation as being 
"zealous of good works." 

There are two truths very important for all 

177 



178 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



to realize about good works — the first is that 
such good works are in no sense necessary to 
salvation ; the second is that they are the essence 
of salvation. 

These seemingly contradictory truths are of 
the utmost importance to us. I do not know 
which is the more important of the two. We 
may consider them separately. 

First: Good works are in no sense necessary 
to our salvation; they do not form any part of 
it — they do not in any way contribute to it; 
they do not in any way minister to it. In truth 
what we call good works may stand in the way 
of our salvation. May hinder us from accepting 
Christ who alone saves from sin both from its 
guilt and from its power. 

We must recognize that we are sinners in need 
of salvation and that Christ is the complete 
Savior. If anyone is inclined to rely upon his 
own righteousness for his salvation he should 
carefully examine it in the light of the law of 
his being — God's law — it may meet with the 
approval of his fellow-men — does it meet with 
the approval of God; it may satisfy very high 
human standards — does it satisfy God's stand- 
ards? Have you from the first moment of 
consciousness spontaneously, naturally, constant- 
ly loved God supremely. Have you loved yourself 
as a creature of God, to make the most of your- 
self as God would have you in His sight. Have 
you in that way and to that degree loved your 
neighbor as yourself. Is this your nature now? 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 179 



Or has there been the reverse record and is 
there a reverse tendency now? You may not 
approve of your record and tendency — you may 
even try to atone for it and to overcome it 
but you consciously fail both in love of God and 
in love of man. Your soul is like a bird in a 
cage. It was made to fly, to soar with exalting 
wing in the sunlight of the broad heavens but 
try as it will, it strikes the strong wires of 
the cage, becomes discouraged, dispirited — a will- 
ing captive contented with fluttering from perch to 
perch in its cage — only in our case we have con- 
structed our own cage with the vices of in- 
gratitude, indifference and disobedience to God 
and self indulgence of our lower nature — and 
selfish struggles with our fellow-men. Still we 
were made to fly in the broad heavens of God's 
love— and our very fluttering is a remnant of 
our original nature as God designed us. 

Only do not be deceived that our fluttering 
commends us to God. Our righteousness — our 
good works in the sight of men, and in our own 
sight are nothing more than the fluttering of 
our better nature and are utterly powerless to 
break the wires of our worse nature. Such 
righteousness if it satisfies us will only keep us 
from Christ — Who alone can let the prisoner 
free. Such righteousness can be no part of our 
salvation. May keep us from salvation. Christ 
saves sinners — He does not wait for them to 
become righteous, to come half way out of sin, 
its penalty, its power, or any distance. Christ 



180 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



comes all the way to the sinner — and saves him 
altogether. 

The Gospel of Christ is not "Do the best you 
can and Christ will do the rest." 

He is not a part Savior, but a whole Savior. 
Our good works of whatever amount or degree 
are no part of our salvation. We do not escape 
the curse of the law or receive the favor of God 
because we are good — because of our good works, 
but solely because Christ is our Savior and we 
trust in Him. Our Catechism says Christ has 
redeemed and delivered us by His blood and 
revives us by His Holy Spirit. We have in former 
Lord's Days seen how Christ by His death and 
life takes away our death in sin and renews our 
life in Him. We recognize our misery and rely 
entirely by our faith in Christ for our salvation. 
Our text says Christ redeemed us from all ini- 
quity and purines unto himself a peculiar people 
zealous of good work. The zeal for good works 
does not save in any sense but they show that we 
are saved. Christ saves and He alone. The man 
in the ark was safe not because of his character 
— not even because he was of the family of Noah 
— but because he was in the ark. The man 
behind the door post sprinkled with the blood 
of the lamb was safe not because of his charac- 
ter, not because he was of the family of Abra- 
ham, but because "he was sheltered by the 
blood." In both cases they believed the threaten- 
ing and the promises of God, and in both cases 
they must have been thankful to God for His 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 181 



salvation. The zeal for good works does not 
secure the favor of God in Christ but flows from 
it. And zeal for good works does not merit 
eternal life but this manifests itself in good 
works. The source of the Mississippi River is 
in a large spring in the north of our land. The 
great river does not flow into the spring but 
from it and grows as it flows. 

We shall more fully consider the nature of 
good works in succeeding Lord's Days, we need 
only state generally now that they are good in 
God's sight, both in spirit and in expression they 
are in obedience to the law "love God supremely 
and love your neighbor as yourself." This is 
the high standard, the lofty ideal to which we 
aspire and strive. The Holy Spirit renews us 
after the image of Christ — He was perfect and 
we are to be constantly aspiring and striving 
after this perfection. The text uses the word 
zealous, the idea is that of boiling up, not merely 
bubbling up as a fountain but the ardor of heat 
boiling up, the idea of enthusiasm to be enthused 
by the spirit of God in Christ in the new and 
eternal life. 

There are certain results to be attained by 
good works and the Holy Spirit used these as 
motives to stir us up to zeal. All human life 
needs motives to action — and through exercise 
life grows in strength — becomes more zealous — 
more enthusiastic. 

Our Catechism presents three strong incentives 
to such zealous living — to constant good works. 



182 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



First, they show our gratitude to God — and so 
praise Him. Good works are not for reward, 
but for thanksgiving. They spring spontaneous- 
ly in praise of God. A man is sick of a danger- 
ous and contagious disease and a skilled physician 
risks his own life and devotes his time and 
ability to secure his recovery. Surely such a 
man whose life is saved will have gratitude to 
his friend. Shall we not express our gratitude 
to the Great Physician of our souls. A man is 
poor and in despair and a friend relieves his 
poverty and puts him on his feet again and 
sets him on the way of prosperity, will he not 
be grateful? Shall we not be grateful to God 
who relieves our poverty — gives us new courage 
and opportunity and holds before us the riches 
of heaven? A soldier is captured by the enemy 
and suffers all hardship of the prison — and his 
captain risks his life, breaks open the prison 
door and leads him back to freedom. Will he 
not be thankful for the rescue? Shall we not 
be grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ who shed 
His blood to open our prison doors and to lead 
us out to freedom in His service. Good works 
are the only possible expression of our thankful- 
ness to God. We should be zealous in them. 

The second incentive our Catechism mentions 
is good works are the fruit of faith and so assure 
us of the sincerity and strength of our faith. If 
I was sick and a good physician promised me 
restored health, my greatest satisfaction would 
be to feel the coming of health. If I was poor 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 183 



and cast down and a rich and wise friend offered 
me help and a new courage and start to pros- 
perity my greatest comfort and courage would 
be to feel the start and growth of the offered 
prosperity. If I was a soldier and my captain 
promised me his help to freedom, my greatest 
courage would be to hear his step — to see the 
prison door open — and to walk with him to 
freedom. So I, sick, poor, in prison receive the 
gracious offer of Christ's deliverance if I trust 
Him. My greatest comfort is to feel His deliver- 
ance, to know my faith is in Him — that He saves 
me. Faith works by love — purifies the heart — 
so faith evidences its presence and power in 
good works. 

The third incentive is that by good works we 
may bring others to share the salvation in 
Christ. Those who believe in Christ — those who 
are saved in Him earnestly desire that their 
fellows also shall experience His salvation. How 
can this desire of the heart be brought about. 
If your face shines with thankfulness to God, if 
your faith evidences itself by good works your 
fellows will see the Christ life in you. Then 
when you speak to them of your Savior, and 
their need of Him, they will listen, for your life 
as well as your tongue proclaim the blessedness 
of salvation in Christ, and they will want to 
possess that blessedness. 

If we delight in religious observances, if in 
the family and social life, we are loving and 
generous — if in business and political life we are 



184 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



just and true — if in all our lives we show love 
to God and love to our fellow-men — if we are 
zealous of good works, we are trying to live the 
Christ life. Our lot may be hard — have many 
struggles for daily bread and sufficient clothing 
— or it may be prosperous — we may be ignorant 
or learned — high in social standing or lowly — 
healthy or sickly — happy or afflicted, whatever 
the particulars, this will be the blessed outcome 
— others may be gained to Christ. We grow 
more and more zealous of good works in thanks- 
giving to God, in experiencing the blessed salva- 
tion and in commending Christ to our fellow- 
men. Surely this is a noble life worth living. 

We have in former Lord's Days of our Cate- 
chism considered the Church of Christ as an 
organization of His followers. It is a divine 
organization of which He is the head, the condi- 
tions of membership, the ordinances, the govern- 
ment are all of His ordaining. Hence also the 
design of the church must be divine. Our text 
is from the Epistle of Paul to Titus, The Epistle 
itself may be called, Directions for the organiz- 
ing of churches. The text says Christ purifies 
unto Himself a people for His own possession 
zealous of good works. This of course as we 
have thus far considered includes each individual 
believer in Christ it manifestly also sets forth 
the design of the organization of the church — a 
peculiar people — a people for his own possession. 
The condition of membership — the ordinances — 
the discipline, the whole organization to promote 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 185 



"zealousness for good works." The communion 
of the saints is an article of the Apostle's Creed. 
They are to encourage, stimulate and help one 
another in their zeal for good works. The church 
is commissioned to observe the worship of its 
Lord — the observance of the Sabbath — the cher- 
ishing and proclaiming the word of God. Its 
fellowship is to promote the wholesome lives 
of its members, lives of righteousness and love 
in all the relations of the social life. Christ's 
redemption of the individual from his iniquity 
is of necessity the basis of the redemption of 
the church — the organization of believers, and 
He purifies them together as His peculiar people 
zealous of good works. Man is a social being 
in his nature. Love of man must flow from 
the love of God. 

The Bible has as distinct a conception of 
society as it has of God — God the Father, man 
the brother. There is as much Biblical sociology 
as there is Biblical theology. The church must 
live and proclaim and advance the Kingdom of 
God. The Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The 
immediate aim of Christ is to save the individual. 
The mediate aim of Christ is a saved society, 
the church. The ultimate aim of Christ is a saved 
race — the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth. The 
church then in every community is to live the 
Christ life in that community — to live as Christ 
would live there — to discover the needs of the 
community, to consider the best way of minister- 
ing to them, and to bring the combined life of 



186 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



the organization into zealousness of good works. 
The world then has caught a glimpse of Christ's 
great design when it demands of the church that 
it not only should show the world what to 
believe but how to live — and thus the world is 
right in judging the sincerity of the faith of 
the church by the earnestness of its life, the 
sincerity of its love for Christ by its ministry 
to the needs of mankind. 

The church is to do good works — as the 
individual is — not to save itself nor to increase 
its membership, nor to advance its social standing, 
nor for anything short of the love for Christ — 
out of likeness to Him as He loved to serve and 
to save and to so commend Him to the world; 
to do good works for the love of doing them; in 
a zeal constantly exercised and growing. In our 
own city there are large numbers from foreign 
lands, what can the church do for them? There 
are great numbers of operatives in our factories, 
what can the church do for them? Surely we 
should show the brotherly spirit and do our best 
to secure them just wages — good living condi- 
tions — the education they need — all this and 
much more from love of Christ and loving them 
as He loves them and so to recommend Christ to 
them. Many young women are on our streets at 
night or in dance halls. What can the church 
do for them. Many of our men are in saloons 
these cold winter nights. Where else can they 
go? What can the church do for them? Our 
church and other churches of our city have large 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 187 



rooms for worship and social life. Can these 
be used in any way to minister to the needs of 
others beside our own members? There are 
many needs of the community where we live. 
We have a large, harmonious church organiza- 
tion. Surely we may discover many possible 
ways to meet the needs of our community if 
we are zealous of good works, zealous to see the 
needs, zealous to discover ways of meeting, zeal- 
ous in ministering out of love for Christ — in the 
exercise of Christ's likeness loving our fellows as 
Christ loved them, and so to commend Christ to 
all classes and conditions of our fellow-men. 

We should cultivate the noble life like unto our 
Lord's — should have the enthusiasm He had as 
His life on earth is described in the scriptures. 
"He went about doing good." This zealousness 
of good works of the church extends beyond the 
individual church to the denomination of which 
it is a part. The many agencies of our Reformed 
Church in America are to be heartily sustained 
and zealously exercised. 

The Domestic Missionary work in our own 
land, the Foreign Missionary work in Japan, 
China, India and Arabia. Our missionaries 
should feel the thrill of enthusiasm in the great 
work of preaching Christ to the world as they 
recognize not only that Christ has so commanded 
them and is with them to bless, and their church 
has great zeal in sustaining them and is working 
through them. So also the agencies of publish- 
ing all needed papers, tracts and books for the 



188 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



spread of the Gospel in our own lands and in 
heathen lands afford a channel for the strong 
flow of our zeal for good works. 

So also the agencies of many stages in prepar- 
ing men for the ministry of the Gospel of Christ, 
selecting devoted, able men and giving them the 
best culture and training form a very important 
division of good works in which we should all 
be zealous. 

Two things are to be remembered. We should 
not confine our zeal to organized agencies of our 
denomination but should as members of the in- 
dividual church find a large outlet of our zeal in 
individual work among our fellow members and 
among our acquaintances. Also we should not 
confine our zeal to our own denomination, but 
should love and encourage our sister churches in 
their good works, an incentive of zeal from one 
denomination to all others to help the good work. 
The whole church will thus become more and 
more one church, the Holy Catholic Church — a 
peculiar people zealous of good works. 



XV. 



THIRTY-THIRD LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"CONVERSION" 

Be Ye Renewed in the Spirit of Your 
Mind. — Eph. 4:23. 



OU cannot draw fresh water from the 



ocean. You cannot pour honey from a 



-** cup full of vinegar. You cannot gather 
good fruit from an evil tree. Our Savior asks : 
"Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of 
thistles?" 

So you cannot produce holy living from a sin- 
ful character, or good works from an evil heart. 
So this Lord's Day of our Catechism teaches 
Bible truth, truth confirmed by common sense, 
truth of which each one of us must have ex- 
perience when it says a man cannot be saved 
except by being converted. It also makes very 
clear what conversion is, a sincere sorrow of 
heart on account of our sins, and sincere joy of 
heart in God through Christ. We will also see 
how this conversion may be secured, and what 
are its results — good works — . 

This then is the important truth our Cate- 
chism calls us to consider. The need of conver- 
sion, its nature, the means of attaining it, and 
the results. 




189 



190 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



Concerning the necessity of conversion it is 
seen at once that it is only necessary for salva- 
tion. Many live and die without giving any 
evidence to their fellows of being converted. It 
is not absolutely necessary for even what passes 
among men for a faithful good life. But if man 
is by nature a sinner, he is alienated from God, 
it is self evident he must be converted and re- 
newed in the spirit of his mind to be reconciled 
to God to be saved. 

People differ in character as in faces. There 
are various degrees of alienation from God. 
There may be enmity or only indifference to 
Him as seen in daily life. Here is one rushing 
down the road of life with all the impetuosity of 
an already long descent — rushing with eager 
madness away from God, the source of all good. 
Here is another walking upon the serene uplands 
of morality yet his back is turned toward God. 
He is conscious that his morality does not arise 
from any desire to please God, that he is utterly 
indifferent to God the source of all good, that he 
is alienated from Him. 

We may ask what shall become of these 
in the future life supposing they die uncon- 
verted. They will enter the future as they leave 
the present life with such varied records and 
characters for there is no reason to believe that 
death works conversion by itself. But this is 
something foreign to our present subject — for 
we are considering salvation here and now, in 
this present life. Salvation is being renewed in 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 191 



the spirit of the mind, is being reconciled to God. 
The one rushing down in vice hears the voice of 
God to him, "turn and live." He pauses on the 
brink of despair — and turns to God. The one 
walking away from God in his proud morality 
hears the same voice, he should hear it sooner 
and more distinctly since his faculties ought to 
be keener — and he too turns to God. 

Now it is easy to see there will be a great 
difference in the experience of these two men. 
The one at the bottom of the hill will have a 
hard climb — his natural inclinations, his acquired 
propensities, his habits and companions — his 
reputation are all against him; but there is one 
thing — he has turned— he is facing and climbing 
upward — he no longer halts — he now loves God, 
his Savior in Christ. The other on the serene 
uplands of morality may have very little change 
in outward life, he already is a good husband 
and father, neighbor, business man and friend. 
But there is one thing that fills the old life with 
a new life, he is no longer indifferent, he now 
loves God, his Savior in Christ. Both are re- 
newed in the spirit of the mind, the intensity 
of the feelings will vary with the natural powers 
of the mind and with the nature of the past 
record of the life — the one as he recognizes — the 
hideous nature of his wayward life — the other 
as he recognizes the meanness of his having left 
God out of his life. 

Our Catechism fully describes conversion in 
what it turns from and in what it turns to — in 



192 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



the change of mind in this double action. In this 
it follows closely the action described in the 
verse preceding our text — and in that which 
follows it — 

Conversion in the putting off the old man is 
according to the Catechism a sincere sorrow of 
heart that we have provoked God by our sins 
and more and more to hate and flee from them. 
The man of vice and the man of mere worldly 
morality now in conversion agrees in seeing that 
the law of their being "love God supremely and 
your neighbor as yourself" was the expression 
of the goodness of God for them and in breaking 
it they have sinned against God; that God has 
blessed them with innumerable blessings and 
been patient with them — and still they sinned 
against Him — that God so loved them that He 
gave His Son to save them, that Christ so loved 
them that He died for them, and still they sinned 
against Him- — that God granted them many op- 
portunities for repentance and pleaded with them 
in many ways by His Holy Spirit, and still they 
sinned. Each one feels — according to the quality 
of his nature, that he has offended the holiness 
of God, abused His goodness — rejected His love; 
and now that God forgives him through Christ 
deeply increases his sorrow, that he has so 
shamefully treated the infinite and gracious God 
— his Father and Savior. His sorrow is on 
account of his sin, not on account of its effect 
present or threatened, but that it deserved all 
these and more. The prisoners sorrow is that 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 193 



he has been found out. The slave's sorrow is 
that he is punished. Such sorrow still cleaves 
to the sin — "the sorrow of the world works 
death." 

This however is a son's sorrow, a son, "who 
has come to himself" as the Savior says in the 
parable — a sorrow that he has sinned against 
a good and loving Father. This sorrow leads him 
to hate and flee from sin. He may still have 
the old propensities to his own peculiar sins — 
but he struggles against them. He will not give 
any quarter, any welcome to that which wrongs 
and offends his good Father, to that which would 
crucify afresh his loving Savior. 

"If I believed I was saved, as you do," said 
an infidel to a Christian, "I would take my fill 
of sin." The answer was prompt and fit. "How 
much sin would it take to satisfy a Christian 
when the more Christian he is the more he hates 
sin." 

But conversion is not only turning from it, 
it is turning to. Conversion is not all sorrow 
clouding our life in gloom, there is joy in it 
filling our life with light — it is not all struggle 
with the old nature, it is the aspiration of the 
new nature — it is not only putting off the old 
man, it is putting on the new man. There is 
such a thing as joy even in the sorrow — joy that 
one sorrows. The poor man joys that he can 
put off the coat of rags for he can put on far 
better clothing; the prisoner that he can put off 
his prison garb, for he can then have the 



194 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



citizen's dress; the slave that he can cast aside 
his slave covering and be clothed a free man. 
So our Catechism gives the positive side of con- 
version, that to which one turns with eagerness. 
It is a sincere joy of heart in God, through Christ 
and with love and delight to live according to 
the will of God in all good works. 

These are very strong words joy and delight, 
and between them love. How much joy and 
delight if we consider carefully the experience of 
our lives flow from and are depending upon 
love — the love of parents and children — the love 
of husband and wife — of brothers and sisters 
and friends. How much joy and delight there 
is in growth toward an ideal — the growth of a 
rose to its perfect beauty — of a child to full 
manhood or womanhood — of a life to full mental 
and spiritual development — of an enterprise or 
cause to success. Our Catechism strikes the 
truth when it associates joy and delight with 
love and with living according to the will of 
God. Thus the love we have in the noblest 
relations of our earthly life is but a faint reflec- 
tion of the perfect love of God. The growth, 
the aspiration, the endeavor of the noblest life 
of mankind is toward the loftiest ideal, the 
ideal of God Himself is His will for us. The 
suffering of this life flows largely from lack 
of love — from selfishness and strife — from lack 
of aspiration and endeavor to attain the high 
ideal of our Creator and Father. Conversion is 
the process he has provided for the recovery of 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 195 



the ideal, for the restoration of the love — and 
it brings joy and delight, the present, the 
highest, the best to those renewed in the spirit 
of their minds. 

Here also nature forms in man differently as 
the surface of the earth differs in form — so will 
the amount and intensity of both the sorrow 
and the joy of conversion vary with man's 
nature. There are on the earth's surface great 
mountains and high hills — also broad valleys and 
wide plains, mountain streams are often rushing 
torrents, sometimes shallow, sometimes deep, 
while the valley streams are gentle or strong 
and may be large rivers. But the water flowing 
in torrent or river is the same in essence — the 
gathered rain from the clouds of heaven. So 
the feelings of sorrow and joy differ in amount 
and intensity according to the natural gift of 
man, but they are the same in essence — sorrow 
for sin against God — joy in God in Christ. 

There is one feature of effect we may notice 
in passing. The one converted from an excess 
of sin rioting in vice may become very earnest in 
Christian work and largely successful in bring- 
ing many souls to Christ, and some may infer 
that an outrageous, sinful, life is therefore a 
preparation for great usefulness in Christ's 
service — while the one converted from worldly 
morality does not have such marked influence. 
But this is to be considered — the mountain tor- 
rent makes the great appearance of power, so 
the fiery, impulsive nature of the one converted 



196 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



from vice may be greatly blessed in converting 
his fellows and in impressing the community; 
but after all we know that the well-watered 
valleys and plains produce the world's harvest 
of grain and fruits, so the strong deep nature 
of one who has lived in worldly morality, now 
converted to God, may be so steady and constant 
in the service of his Savior that in the long run 
he may be the most useful in bringing souls to 
Christ and in thus upbuilding in Christ's like- 
ness. 

We should be careful not to measure ourselves 
by one another but according to the description 
of God's word, not according to the amount and 
intensity of feelings as shown in others, but 
according to the essence or kind of the feelings. 
Conversion is a continuous work; we should seek 
to grow in amount and intensity of feelings and 
in their resultant living, but first of all to be 
sure that we sorrow for sinning against God — 
and that we joy in God in Christ, in loving and 
serving Him. You who are thus converted are 
to be congratulated upon the renewing in the 
spirit of your minds — you who are not conscious 
of such a blessed state and still desire it may 
well consider carefully the teaching of God in 
His word of the way in which conversion may 
be secured. 

There are four classes of texts in the Scrip- 
tures that give us four distinct teachings of the 
way conversion may be secured. 

In the first place man is called to convert 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 197 



himself — "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven 
is at hand" is the call of Christ Himself — as 
describing His whole ministry. ' 1 Repent ye, and 
be baptized" is the call of Peter at the day of 
Pentacost — and again to the people in the Temple 
— and again in our text Paul says "put off the 
old man, be renewed in the spirit of your mind 
and put on the new man." Everywhere in the 
Scripture the call is Turn ye — Turn ye, The clear 
duty of every man is to repent and believe the 
Gospel. 

In the second class of texts the truth is said 
to convert man. In the Old Testament it is 
said: "The law of God, that is the word of God, 
is perfect converting the soul." In the Epistle 
of Peter it is said, "Being born again, not of 
corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word 
of God." In the third class of texts the one 
converted is said to convert others. In the 
penitential 51st Psalm, the converted sinner 
promises, "Then will I teach transgressors thy 
ways and sinners shall be converted to thee." 
"He who converteth the sinner from the error 
of his ways shall save a soul from death." In 
the fourth class of texts God is said to convert a 
man, Ezekiel represents God as saying to sinful 
men, "A new heart will I give you and a new 
spirit will I put within you, I will put my spirit 
within you and cause you to walk in my statutes." 
The Apostle Paul says to the Colossians, of 
Christ, the Lord, "You that were sometimes 
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked 



198 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of 
his flesh through death to present you holy and 
unblamable in thy sight." 

The conversion of Paul is an instance of these 
four truths fully described. He believed Christ 
was an impostor and so persecuted His followers. 
The vision he saw on his way to Damascus 
convinced him that Christ was the Son of God. 
The vision did not convert him, it simply showed 
him the truth. God so showed him the truth. 
The lives of Christ's followers whom he had 
persecuted as he remembered them confirmed 
this new truth. Paul seeing the truth that 
Christ was the Son of God became His follower. 
Paul turned. God turned him, the truth turned 
him. Believers turned him. 

We see at a glance these truths are not con- 
tradictory but cumulative. God is our all and 
in all. We have not made ourselves any laws 
of our being. He created us with all our powers 
and He made the laws under which all our 
powers work. When we use our powers in 
obedience to His laws He works in and through 
us. We according to these gifts of God and 
the laws of our social being have large influence 
over each other. Again, truth itself has large 
influence over each one of us; we may resist 
or evade it, but even this abuse of truth testifies 
to its power. So to come to the first class of 
texts or truths. We recognize the power of our 
own will in any matter involving the question of 
duty, the power of choosing — of deciding for or 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 199 



against, the strong saying of the soul, the "I 
ought" of a soul. In this matter of conversion 
each one knows he ought to turn to God — that 
the repentance of sin and the trust in Christ 
must be his own act. He knows it is the truth 
that thus calls upon him to act. He knows also 
that I who am preaching am speaking of my own 
experience when I urge him to turn to God and 
he knows also that his converted friends 
plead with him to turn to God and live, and 
he knows also that in all these ways God in 
His providence and by His grace — God his creator, 
his bountiful benefactor, his loving Savior is 
pleading with him to turn, and believe and love 
Him in time and through eternity. You who 
are not converted may and should recognize that 
fact — you must know that conversion is neces- 
sary to reconciliation with God — to your salva- 
tion from sin — that you should turn now to 
Him — that the truth calls you — that your friends 
call you, that God calls you. He will renew the 
spirit of your mind. He will bless you with His 
blood bought salvation. Turn to Him ! 

The results of conversion are good works; 
these our Catechism says proceed from a true 
faith, are performed according to the law of 
God and to His glory — and are to be distinguished 
from the so-called good works founded on the 
imaginations and institutions of men. The full 
description of these good works will be the 
subject for future consideration. 



XVI. 



THIRTY-FOURTH LORD'S DAY OF THE 
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



"THE END DESIGNED BY GOD" 

The End of the Commandment is Char- 
ity Out of a Pure Heart and a Good 
Conscience and Faith Unfeigned. 



HE meaning of the word end in the text is 



obviously not the terminus or limit as the 



end of this platform, but the design or 
purpose as the purpose of this platform is to 
lift the speaker so he can be seen and heard by 
those in the farthest seats. The End of the Com- 
mandment or as the revised version says of the 
charge is love. Paul, the aged and experienced 
preacher writes his charge to the young preacher 
that the aim or design of Christian preaching 
and living is to produce love. These men, Paul 
and Timothy, were among the early founders of 
the Christian Church, with its proclaiming the 
truth and its fellowship of believers, so the 
design or end of the church is to produce love. 

Where did Paul get this charge? Did he de- 
vise it? And are we listening only to his charge, 
to a young preacher? We recognize at once 
that Christ, the Great Head of the Church, gave 
the charge. Christ says : 



I Timothy 1 :5. 




200 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 201 



"This is my commandment that ye love one 
another as I have loved you." We know also as 
he says that Christ came not to destroy the law 
but to fulfill it, and that the summary of the 
Ten Commandments is love — as He has taught 
us. Love God supremely, love your neighbor as 
yourself. So God in Christ says the end or 
design of all His law and His gospel, of His church 
as carrying out His teaching and His life, is love. 

There are several questions that one will in- 
stinctively ask about any great institution. What 
is its origin and history? What is its nature? 
What is it for? And how is it adapted to secure 
this end? We have already considered some of 
these questions about the Christian church. Now, 
this question arises what is its end? What 
does God give it to do in this world. Its end is 
love. A larger question, a wider view arises. 
What is the end, the design of the earth itself 
as it sails through space, with the race of man 
upon it? We know that the law given on Sinai 
and the Cross on Calvary and the triumphal 
ascension of Christ from the Mount of Olives, 
that all the supernatural revelation of God in 
the Scriptures is not in conflict but in full 
harmony with His revelation of Himself in nature. 
It is simply supernatural — that is, it is above 
nature — more full than nature — not in conflict or 
in opposition to nature. 

What then is the purpose or design of the 
great universe? We begin to catch a glimpse 
of the lofty end, it is love — a being who can 



202 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



love, who has the capability of loving. As the 
various stages of creation pass before us as 
God in His two books has revealed them to us, 
we recognize that each is good in itself — as God 
saw it was good, but also good as a stage 
leading on to the next. At each stage, there is 
a commandment, "God said," and there is God's 
judgment pronounced "it is good" — light — the 
globe of the earth — now the gift of life in myriad 
forms of vegetation — and now from the earth 
can be seen the moon, and sun and stars. Now 
that the earth is prepared for it God creates 
animal life in myriad forms grade after grade 
advancing through countless ages and all is 
good. What is the design? What is yet to 
come? At last, God brings forth man gifted by 
the great Creator with likeness to Himself; and 
"all is good." 

Now, we ask what is likeness to Himself? 
Man has intellect, power to know the truth. Man 
has a moral sense, power to see the right. Man 
has will, power to choose the right; anything 
more in man? Yes, vastly more. He not only 
can see the truth and the right — he can love the 
truth and love the right and can choose as he 
loves. And so he can love the Being in whom 
truth and right and love have their loftiest ex- 
pression. He can love God who is truth and 
right, but higher yet, who is love. 

God, who is love, has created on this little 
earth a being who can love, who is capable of 
loving. The many stages of creation through 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 203 



the countless ages have at last attained the 
designed end — a being who can love God supreme- 
ly, who can love himself properly as a creature 
of God and who can love every other man as 
he loves himself. And now when this being, 
the culmination of God's creative power, fails 
to exercise his nature according to the great law 
of his being, God's infinite love seeks to restore 
him to His original design, and in so doing 
shows the attractiveness of lovliness in Himself 
in more fullness than was possible in mere crea- 
tion, in all the wonderful self sacrifice of re- 
demption. 

The value of anything may be inferred from 
who makes it, how much pains he takes in mak- 
ing it, how great resources he uses, how much 
patience and persistence and time he spends in 
making it. 

Who can estimate the value of love in God's 
sight — the end designed in all God's work of 
creation and redemption. The philosopher Kant 
says there are two perpetual inexplicable wonders 
— the starry heavens over our heads — and the 
moral law within us — the categorical, imperative. 
Here we have the design, the end of both of the 
heavens and of the law — it is love. God from 
the beginning had the great purpose or design 
in mind as He moulded the material creation, 
and then formed a being uniting in himself the 
material and the spiritual creations, the end is 
love, a being capable of loving. What the end of 



204 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



the universe with its millions of suns? What the 
end of the spiritual beings about His throne? 
A being joining the two natures, material and 
spiritual — a being who can and will love. 
Jehovah describes to Job some of the glory of 
creation — 

"When the morning stars sang together, 
"And all the sons of God shouted for joy." 

Surely we should appreciate somewhat the 
grandeur of our nature and may well cultivate an 
enthusiasm for humanity as God designs it, and 
God with patience and self-sacrificing love seeks 
to carry out His great design. What is the 
highest possible life man can attain? To know 
the truth? Yes — and especially to love it, to 
choose the right? Yes. Not simply because he 
ought, but because, he loves it. How shall man 
make the most out of life here and now? By 
cultivating his God like powers of love — by ful- 
filling God's design. The end of the command- 
ment is love. As the spiritual beings about His 
throne, the sons of God, saw His great design 
unfolding through the various stages of creation, 
they shouted for joy. Surely we, as we recog- 
nize God's design in creating us should shout 
for joy. 

Alas, how the race of man has missed the 
lofty end of its creation — and thus has filled 
the earth with the groans of sorrow instead of 
the shouts of joy. Again, we ask the question. 
What is the end of the Christian Church? What 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 205 



is its purpose? What does God call it to do in 
the world? The end is love. It is to live love, 
to preach love, to advance love in mankind. God 
has not given up His great design. He not only 
holds before the church the great end, but shows 
how it may be brought about in its own experi- 
ence and as it proclaims the Gospel of Christ to 
all mankind — God's end and the means of accom- 
plishing this end are all found in our text. 

Love out of a pure heart and a good conscience 
and faith unfeigned. The church must itself 
see Christ the Savior and trust Him fully — have 
a sincere faith; and she must so proclaim and 
commend Christ to mankind that they will have 
this sincere faith. This will result in a good 
conscience, one forgiven of past sin and en- 
lightened to see and approve the right as God 
reveals it. This will result in a pure heart, a 
heart cleansed from sin — from the lust of selfish- 
ness that ignores God, that ignores man as the 
creature of God — a heart now renewed in the 
likeness of Christ to love God supremely and to 
love one's self properly as a creature of God, 
and to love his fellow-man as he loves himself. 

This is the experience of the Christian church ; 
this the result of her proclaiming and living the 
Gospel of Christ, a strong, clear faith, seeing 
and trusting Christ, a good conscience, forgiven, 
renewed and made controlling by the power of 
Christ, a pure heart cleansed from all dislike 
and hatred and filled with love of God and of 
humanity. 



206 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



The Christian church is thus to have Christ's 
spirit and to carry on Christ's life and mission 
in the world. The church is to live and labor in 
the highest sphere of human life and with the 
fullest means to secure the end of God's com- 
mandment, to do away with all human hatred 
and misery, and to bring about all human love 
and joy — to establish the Kingdom of God on 
the earth. The glorious end of God in creation 
and in redemption becomes the end of the Chris- 
tian church as it catches a vision of her God- 
given mission. Our Catechism has brought us 
through the teaching and appeal of the truths 
of the Christian religion to the experience of 
the Spirit's power in them, through the organi- 
zation of the church to its mission to live a life 
of thanksgiving — a joyous, beautiful life in 
the service of God — and it now instructs us that 
good works of this praiseful life can only be 
performed according to the law of God. The 
truths we believe, the person we trust, the for- 
giveness and acceptance with God, we possess; 
all these lead to salvation — and salvation is love 
— the restoration of man to God's great design to 
love, to obedience to the law of God. This law 
is found in the Ten Commandments — one table 
on duties to God, the second table on duties to 
man, and as summarized by Christ, love God 
with all your powers and love your fellow-man 
as yourself, and so live Christ-like lives. 

The Catechism in future Lord's Days holds 
before us the Ten Commandments and the Lord's 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 207 



Prayer, the law or word of God, and man's 
response to that word in aspiration. 

Two questions force themselves upon our care- 
ful attention — 

First: How shall the church regard its mis- 
sion. 

Second: How successful has it been in carry- 
ing it out? How shall the church regard the Ten 
Commandments. In what sense have they been 
set aside? As the means of attaining life — the 
life of forgiveness and acceptance with God can 
never be attained by our keeping the Ten Com- 
mandments, by our own righteousness. Christ 
is our Savior; He, by His perfect obedience and 
His atoning death merits for us salvation. 

Whatever unbelievers may say that the Ten 
Commandments are impractical, whatever wrong 
views some believers in Christ may have that 
the Ten Commandments are no longer the rule 
of life we clearly see as we study human nature 
and as we learn of God that the Ten Command- 
ments are still in full force. The commands or 
laws of God in the material universe enforce 
themselves, they have power in them to inflict 
penalties for disobedience and to bestow well 
being for obedience ; it is the same with the laws 
of the mind and of the soul. The mental and 
moral laws of God have the power of enforcing 
themselves. The man who obeys the laws of 
gravitation has welfare — if he jumps from a 
skyscraper, he is broken to pieces. The man who 



208 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



eats healthy food in proper times and amounts 
and ways has welfare — the one who drinks poison 
dies. The youth who studies wisely becomes 
learned — the one who idles away his time re- 
mains ignorant. 

It is the same with the moral law, the Com- 
mandments of God. They are in force both 
East and West of the Mississippi River, in the 
old world and in the new, wherever man lives 
on this round earth; they enforce themselves 
with penalties for disobedience or welfare for 
obedience. Take, for example, family life wher- 
ever found. Where love rules, and to the extent 
in which it rules there is welfare; when parents 
love children and the children love parents and 
brothers and sisters love each other there dwells 
happiness. If it is simply natural love, God so 
made human hearts — if it is this natural love 
refined and enforced by spiritual love in Christ 
the happiness is purer and higher. Christian 
love makes the Christian home the happiest place 
on earth, blessed with the happiness of heaven. 

On the contrary, when parents are selfish, 
always seeking their own way — when children 
towards parents and to each other are selfish, 
always seeking their own way, where envy, 
jealousy, strife and conflict hold sway — the law 
of God, the Ten Commandments are in force — 
they work their penalty of themselves, and the 
home is the abode of misery and woe. It is the 
same way with friends; when they appreciate, 
trust and love each other, there is the happiness 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 209 



of friendship; if they fall apart in distrust and 
suspicion and coldness, the happiness vanishes 
away of its own motion. 

It is the same in the wider ranges of social 
life. In society as we find it today there are 
many classes — the rich and the poor, the learned 
and the unlearned, the capitalist and the labor 
classes. Paul speaks of himself as having a 
great possession in the Gospel of Christ but it 
was for others — he says he is thereby a debtor 
to the bond and free, to the Jew and Gentile. 
The more one has the more one can serve one's 
fellows, and the more real satisfaction he has in 
the services of love — the love of humanity brings 
welfare. In proportion as that spirit prevails 
there is happiness. Even where classes exist. 
In our day there is much conflict between labor 
and capital — as each seeks its own, to grasp and 
to hold and from such conflict much suffering 
and unhappiness results. When the Christian 
spirit of love prevails, and in proportion as it 
prevails, when capital seeks the welfare of labor 
and labor seeks the welfare of capital, where 
they are brothers laboring together for the 
common good, there happiness abounds. Capital 
if acquired by well directed efforts to promote 
the good of mankind, if acquired by the service 
of love — love of doing good — of advancing 
humanity brings a satisfaction in itself; and so 
labor in high or low position for the good of 
humanity has the satisfaction of achievement 
and of love. 



210 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



But capital trying to get the better of man- 
kind, and labor trying to get the better of 
mankind, these bring only the distress of selfish- 
ness however successful they may be in securing 
their selfish aims. 

So take the wider classification in the race of 
mankind, that of race and specially of national 
life. A nation in proportion that it lives for 
its own self is apt to have the jealousy of its 
neighbors — and dislike and grasping arise — and 
ambition to get the advantage follows. Now as 
these flame forth in wide action, they result in 
war, and today we have the distress and suffer- 
ing that war brings. We look forward to the 
peace that shall be brought about by the victory 
in war and hope it will be the victory of the 
right of democracy to rule in national life, for 
which our own free land entered the struggle. 

When peace comes it will be by agreement 
among the nations in treaties made with each 
other. But we all recognize there can be no 
lasting or world wide peace until nations obey 
the Ten Commandments, until each nation loves 
its neighbor as itself. Our own country cannot 
be happy if it loves itself alone; it must love 
all other nations as it loves itself — and so seek 
the good of all. 

When all the nations seek the welfare of the 
race — of humanity. This will be the Kingdom 
of God on earth for which we labor and pray. 
The reign of Christ will be the reign not of 
power but of love. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 211 



The second question the church is forced to 
consider is. How successful has it been by its 
preaching and its life in producing love? How 
has it attained the end of the commandment, 
and of its own existence and mission? It is 
quite evident there has been much success, and 
very large failure; it is impossible to rightly 
estimate the amount and character of the one 
or the other. It is quite evident that its failure 
as seen in the fearful war of nations — as seen 
in the social conflicts in Christian lands, as seen 
in the multitude of individual lives still en- 
grossed in self seeking, ignoring God and human- 
ity, that its failure is due largely to the church 
having had an imperfect view of its mission — to 
its having in some degree and in many instances 
contented itself with enforcing the means and 
not sufficiently valuing the end. It has spent 
great effort in having a pure creed — has had 
much controversy within itself over important 
articles, often awaking feelings the reverse of 
love for some of its own members and for those 
outside its fold — and so also with its government, 
often using it as a club for heretics rather than 
as an olive branch to welcome believers — and so 
also with its worship — often magnifying the 
forms above the spirit — creed — government, 
worship. What would a church be without them 
— but they are only means to an end — the end 
is love. 

We must know God as revealed in Jesus Christ 
in order to love Him. Come know Him, said the 



212 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 



church, know Him with me, believe Him, worship 
Him, obey Him — all in order that you and I 
together may love Him — the end is love — the love 
that delights in Him — the love that values the 
return love and ever seeks it as the most price- 
less possession, the love that seeks to serve Him. 

We must know the truth about ourselves and 
our fellow-men. We must know humanity in 
order to love all men. Who is this being man? 
He is the being at the end of God's creative 
work, a being made in His own likeness, a being 
who can love. He has gone astray from the 
design of God in making him, but God has not 
given him up to his wandering, but follows him 
to save him, to bring him back to his original 
design — to love. How much does God love him? 
Hear what Christ says, "God so loved the world 
that He gave His only Begotten Son that whom- 
soever believeth on Him should not perish but 
have eternal life." So God's church is to love all 
mankind. 

In our land during the great war many homes 
had hanging in the front window a service flag 
— there is one star on it — or there may be others 
— the star indicates that one son is in the army, 
he may be in some training camp, or he may be 
in France on the battlefield. One son of the 
family has given himself to the service of his 
country in the cause of democracy for all nations. 
In the early evening on these clear days you 
may see a bright star shining alone in the blue 
sky. Let it remind you of God's service flag. 



THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 213 



He gave His only Begotten Son for the salvation 
of humanity, and let it quicken our loyalty to 
Him and to His cause, to the love of our fellow- 
man, to serve Him, and so to awaken His love 
for Christ and humanity until the whole heaven 
is filled with the multitude of stars like Him. 



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